The Elite Class
by MJ.Ride
Summary: These are the shinobi from the Elite class. They are younger but stronger. Some have even joined Akatsuki. But no one is able to talk about them. Why? Read to learn more about the mystery that surrounds these young shinobi. Both OCs and real characters.
1. Prologue: So I Don't Confuse You

**A/N: Hey! I'm just typing the prologue for this really fast, since I'm way behind in two classes and I need to get my scuba training finished. Then I have chores, and I'm taking Fang and Iggy to the beach, and I need to think of ideas for other stories and work on my book. That reminds me: If anyone has any ideas or suggestions of something you'd like me to write, or if you have an idea for something that should be in the chapters, please tell me. I'm going to try to get all the different arcs covered, and I'll do my best not to forget or skip any. **

**Iggy: She refuses to get a Beta reader, saying she can check her own grammar and spelling herself. As for the plot and story line, and the writing style, she just gets Bre's opinion. So all the editing takes extra time. Plus, she writes everything in notebooks. (We have tons piled in her room. Some are empty, some are full.) So she has to type up everything when she's finished. Then she usually adds to it as she types.**

**Mo: Is there anything wrong with that? Besides, it's all worth it, because Bre says I've improved drastically since I started writing 2 years ago. **

**Fang: Obviously. You've stopped cleverly inserting yourself, or characters like yourself, into **_**real**_** fanfics, reserving them for the pointless stories where you are a part of the plot.**

**Mo: Yup. I'm only in the where the other characters know about the real world, fanfiction, or things like that. I've decided to accept that I don't have wings and I'm not a wizard. But I'm still a ninja.**

**Fang: No, you're-**

**Iggy: -interrupts Fang as if he hadn't spoken- You know, all of your A/Ns have become ways to explain things, rant, or print our stupid conversations.**

**Fang: -sighs-**

**Mo: If you two didn't say stupid things, I wouldn't write them. Oh, also? From here on out, I probably will not have Fang and Ig in the A/Ns. Other people will usually take their places for my Naruto fanfics. (PS: the disclaimer is at the bottom this time. Sorry) And also, this is an insanely short chapter. I don't plan to make a habit of writing things that are this short.**

There are a few things you should know before you read this story. I'll make them as simple as possible.

1. These children were always there, from the very beginning. You just didn't see them. If you did, it wasn't enough to know who they were, or even remember them. Just a glimpse from the background before they vanished.

2. The Konoha Elites were in the Academy at the same time Naruto's class was. They graduated early, alongside the regular class. These children were born with great skill, and even from a young age showed signs of a strong shinobi. These children were taken into the elite class at various ages, and taught advanced techniques.

3. The Elite class allows only 18 students to pass the graduation exam and only 12 can pass the leader's test. In addition, the elites already possess skills close to chunin when they enter the academy, so they can't take part in normal promotion exams. The elites from each village are brought together to be promoted.

4. The children are never mentioned by anyone. They go on plenty of off-screen missions with other shinobi, but due to special seals placed on everyone they meet, they don't talk about them. The seals are similar to Danzo's.

5. The seals were put on the ninjas by the Otakukage, kage of the Hidden Fanfiction Village. This village is kept even more secret than the Sound Village or the ANBU Root. No village knows about them, and the Otakukage serves to keep the peace and balance between all lands. She created these ninja elites, and they were born to various ninja clans and families of the land. The higher-ups saw their skill and created the Elite class and ranking. The elites don't realize they came from the Village Hidden in Fanfiction, but they instinctively carry out their missions to keep the peace.

6. Unfortunately, a few of the elites were corrupt, and the Akatsuki managed to persuade a couple of them from various villages to join their cause. These children are all different ages, ranks, skills, and personalities. Once joining forces with the Akatsuki, the elites stop following their mission given by the Otakukage, and begin a new mission given by Akatsuki.

So what exactly _is_ this mission? I suppose you'll just have to read and find out.

**A/N: So, how does it sound so far? I like the Akatsuki children best. I just loved creating them. I'll probably go back and forth between my Konoha main character (in first person) and my Akatsuki children (in third person), and I might throw a glimpse of the Otakukage in every once in a while. **

**Gaara: So, what am I doing here again?**

**Kiba: Yeah, I'm bored. At least give me Akamaru.**

**Lee: Is this some sort of new training exercise? **

**Kankuro: So lame. There's nothing to do.**

**Mo: Gaara? It's because I said so. Kiba? Here you go. –gives Akamaru to Kiba- Lee? Yes. It is. Gai will be in touch with the details soon. Kankuro? Here's the spare laptop. Knock yourself out. Sai? Help me out here?**

**Sai: This should have gone at the top, but I'm sure you all know this already. If not, please call a doctor right away. **_**Mo does not own anything. She is not Kishi. She only owns original characters, original designs, original plots, and original ideas. Basically, she only owns things that came from her own twisted thought process…**_

**Mo: Thank you.**

**Sai: **_**No ninjas were harmed in the making of this fanfic, including the Akatsuki.**_

**Mo: Alright, let's end this. And could you not make promises for me that I don't intend to keep? I have plans for the Akatsuki. At least **_**try**_** to give me some creative freedom. **

**Sai: Hey look! You're almost at 1000 words! This means you can use this as the update! **

**Mo: Awesome! I don't have time to type up anything else. Also, I'm sorry for the A/Ns being so long. It **_**was **_**just a prologue, after all. I'll do better next time. Until then, R&R?**

**PS: Reviews are loved, concrit is appreciated, and your flames are often hilarious. ~Love, Mo.**


	2. Chapter 1: The Beginning

**Mo: Hey everyone! I didn't write anything whatsoever this week so I'm posting an already written chapter. Sorry.**

**Sai: She's been exceedingly lazy. I had to carry her to bed yesterday because she didn't want to move.**

**Kiba: Dude, how stupid are you?**

**Sai: ?**

**Kankuro: She wouldn't move because she **_**wanted **_**to be carried by you.**

**Sai: ?**

**Lee: Mo, has Gai called yet? I need to know the extent of my training. **

**Mo: Yeah, come here. *whispering* You have to steal all my temporary male residents' clothing.**

**Lee: Umm, anything specific?**

**Mo: Boxers, preferably.**

**Lee: Okay! –dashes off—**

**Kankuro: How cruel. Sending him to do your dirty work.**

**Mo: Whatever. Alright, Sai. Start the story already.**

**Sai: Okay. **

"_**Once, there appeared a nine-tailed demon fox. Its mighty tails could crumble mountains and cause tsunamis. To fight the demon, the people assembled—"**_

**Mo: The beginning of **_**THIS **_**story! When the kids first appear!**

**Sai: Oh right.**

_**Disclaimer: Mo doesn't own anything. She is not Kishi. She only owns original stuff. Please call a hospital if you thought otherwise. Also, Mo would like to apologize for the crappiness (is that a word? Crappiness?) of this chapter. She was too lazy to edit the writing. Sorry.**_

Long ago, but no longer than 5 years, there was a boy named Naruto. He just happened to be running from two of the village shinobi. Why? Well, he'd just vandalized the faces of the four past Hokages. This is the part where Keiko came in. She and two of her friends in the Elite class were almost trampled as the 3 ran past. Keiko Aburame, younger sister of Shino Aburame, dusted herself off. She sighed. One more day until that kid graduated the Academy. She was slightly jealous. She had two months, but that kid would be a ninja as of tonight. She was part of the Elite class of the Academy, a group of trainees who started Academy at an unusually young age. Although they were insanely young, they had the obvious skill and potential of chunins. If only they could use it properly.

Aside from herself, there were 37 other students in the Elites. Only 18 could pass the graduation exam each time and those 18 would be split into 6 groups with 3 students per team and each team led by a chunin or jonin. Then, the team leader would decide who was good enough to become a Genin Elite. Only 12 of the 18 could pass this part and become shinobi. Keiko sighed again. This would probably be much worse than she'd thought. Kitsune (the older orphan girl who lived with her) and Okami (the Inuzuka orphan) realized her distress.

"Are you alright?" Kitsune asked.

"Mmm? Yeah, I'm fine," Keiko replied, sighing. The elites were chosen by picking the most talented in each clan. Sometimes more than one was chosen, like she and her younger brother. Sometimes kids who didn't even come from ninja clans were chosen. Of course, everyone has the option to refuse, but it was very rare that anyone actually did. For some reason, it was always the younger generation, the kids with a sibling or relative already in Academy or even with a rank as a shinobi. That was a lot of competition. They took harder classes and harder training than normal classes.

"Hey, guys? What if the graduation exam is on chakra control again?" Kitsune asked.

"Well, that would suck for you," Okami laughed. "But then again, Kitsune is the only one who's repeated the class this many times."

"I'm screwed, too," Keiko sighed.

"What? You aren't worried about _your _chakra control again, are you?" Kitsune sighed. "Look, you've only messed up twice. Don't freak out."

"Yeah, but I'm the only one to mess up the 'walk-on-water' technique this year. That puts me at worst in the class!"

"Again, that's true, but only if you don't figure that this is Kitsune's _fifth_ time through the class. So that makes _her_ the worst in class." Okami nudged her playfully.

Kitsune shoved the 8 year old back. "Way to boost my self-esteem up, Wolf-girl."

"Trust me, _your_ self-esteem is the last person's I'd worry about," Okami laughed and tackled her. "But even your cousin, that Naruto kid, will probably pass this year. And he's a year younger than you!"

Kitsune cupped her hand over Okami's mouth. "Shh! No one else knows about that, other than us three! Don't let the he and rest of the village know I'm related to _him_!"

Keiko sighed. She knew Kit didn't mean it. She was entirely proud of her cousin, as stupid as he was. It had nothing to do with the fox spirit inside of him. The Elite kids, being _Elite_, were told about the incident and the result, naturally. The kid's other classmates didn't know, but they picked up on their parents' hatred of him. Because of that, he had few friends. But Kitsune felt getting close to him would cause him great misfortune and tragedy, like it had the rest of her family. Poor girl.

The three girls were walking by the Academy before the Elite classes began. The older children in the regular classes, hurrying to get to class.

"Hey, you guys wanna get some ramen before classes start?" Kitsune asked suddenly.

Okami rolled her eyes. "Honestly, you Uzumaki's and ramen."

"Yay! Ramen, ramen, ramen-y ramen!" Kitsune sang to herself as she tugged the other two by the sleeves.

Unbeknownst to them, the teachers of the Elite classes were planning a surprise for their students that afternoon. After the class settled down, Anko-sensei grinned slyly.

"Alright class! Due to scheduling error—" she shot a look at Ibiki-sensei, who rolled his eyes before leaving. "—the graduation exams and teams will be decided today. Tomorrow those who've passed will have your team exams and become genin,"Anko-sensei announced.

Various groans and other emotional expressions filled the room.

"Wait, you mean we'll be doingb this at the same time as the kids from the regular classes?" Kitsune asked.

"Exactly. And the exam will be on the skill we learned last month. The 'walk-on-water' technique."

Keiko and Kitsune sighed. "Stupid chakra control," they said together.

"Aburame Keiko! You're first up. Let's go." Anko led her outside to a specially-made stream just for academy use. "Now, just concentrate and focus your chakra in your feet like we practiced.

Keiko closed her eyes and focused her chakra to the chakra points in her feet. She carefully stepped onto the water's surface and walked around a bit. She was happy to find she'd improved, and the water now felt solid to her.

"Very good." Anko dismissed her and brought back the other 37 one-by-one, starting with her brother Konchu.

Finally, "Yamanaka Hana" (though he had a feminine name and appearence, he was actually a boy) finished his exam. Anko told the class to be quiet. When she was ignored, she repeated the order, but in a more "I'll-kill-you-if-you-won't-listen" sort of way.

"I will now call out the 18 who passed and separate you into teams. You will go with one of these 7 teachers. Genma, Aoba, Raido, Hiyate, Tonbo, and these two." She gestured to the two guys on the end. "Kotetsu and Izumo will be leading team 15 together, since both have proved they're useless when separated."

Kotetsu and Izumo looked sheepishly at her, then at each other.

"Anyway, team 12, led by Raido-sensei, will be" –she checked her list—"Uzumaki Kitsune, Aburame Konchu, and Hyuga Furi."

Kitsune grinned and high-fived Keiko under the table. Keiko heard Okami mutter "finally" as she high-fived her as well.

Anko flipped a page. "Next, team 13, led by Aoba-sensei. Kurama Atisuto, Haruno Momo, and Aburame Keiko."

As Anko called out team 14, led by Hiyate, Keiko glanced at her new teammates. She didn't know much about them, especially since Atisuto talked even less than Shino-nii while he was in class. Out of class, he was always messing around. Momo was always trying to improve his skills, and he had amazing chakra control. He didn't come from a ninja family; his sister was the first in the family to become a ninja. Even so, he wanted to be the very best—like no one ever was.

"Team 15, led by the afore-mentioned slightly useless chunin. Inuzuka Okami, Uchiha Fukushu, and Sarutobi Kasai."

Okami looked at her teammates warily while Anko called team 17 (led by Tonbo).

"Last of all, team 19. Genma-sensei. Akimichi Tabemono, Nara Tensai, and Yamanaka Hana." The last team was obvious. Everyone knew the three clans were always paired together.

"Alright, get to know each other and then meet back here tomorrow morning. Don't be late." Then, as she usually did, Anko-sensei jumped out the window and disappeared. The other sensei followed suit, all except for Genma. He shrugged.

"I'll just take the door, if that's alright with you." He half-waved and the class watched as he left.

"Well, I guess I'll see you later, Keiko." Okami sighed. " I think I'll go say hi to the newbies before I go home."

"Same here," Kitsune agreed. "See you at home?"

Keiko nodded and waved goodbye to the two girls. A moment later, a pair of feet landed lightly on her desk. Momo jumped down and sat on the edge of the table. His red, almost-black hair shook as he moved. Unlike his sister, he did not have pink hair, which was strange in his family. Keiko thought it looked better that way.

"And you felt the need to abuse my desk why?" Keiko asked irritably. Another boy joined them, rolling his eyes.

Momo shrugged. "It gave me a funny look. I had to teach it a lesson."

"Of course you did," Keiko sighed. She glanced at the boy with the blue cap. "Atisuto, right?"

"Yeah," he replied.

"Any special skills?"

"Art ninjutsu. You?"

"Insect user. I'm pretty decent with taijutsu, as well."

Momo laughed. "We're a perfect team. Ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu."

Keiko windered for a moment if that was a coincidence. All of the elites were super-powerful, which is why most information about them was kept more secret than the Root Division of the ANBU Black Ops. She remembered Anko-sensei talking to Sandaime-sama about "the Haruno boy". She'd said he had very strong chakra-control, and his skills were almost that of jonin. His genjutu could almost rival Uchiha Itachi's "Mangekyo Sharingan".

Keiko sighed once again. Then, a week after that conversation, the Itachi boy slaughtered the entire Uchiha clan. Well, al but two. By pure luck, Fukushu had been away from the village at the time. Itachi left his younger brother alive as well. Since then, Fukushu had been living on his own. He didn't know the Sasuke kid well, and they'd never met. Now, he thought the kid was really arrogant.

"Keiko?" Momo's voice brought her back to reality.

"Huh? Sorry, I zoned out," Keiko yawned.

Atisuto laughed. "Why don't we just meet back here tomorrow? I'm gonna go find a tree to nap in."

Keiko and Momo both agreed (about meeting back, not the tree thing). Keiko thought about practicing her taijutsu while she was walking home. This idea flew away the moment she walked in the house. Kitsune was already there making dinner. Konchu was sleeping at the table.

"Where's Shino-nii?" she asked, taking a seat.

"He's with his new team,"Kitsune replied absentmindedly. "There's Hinata, one of the Hyuga main branch, and Kiba, Okami's older brother."

Keiko laughed. Okami loved her brother to death, even though they weren't actually related. Kiba had been about 8 when he'd found a little girl lying alone in the woods. He thought she was dead, and carried her back home. The medical ninjas helped as best they could. When she woke up, some of her memories were gone. Amnesia, they said. But she never regained them. As far as she knew, she'd never had a family or home, and being abandoned alone, she just wandered from place to place trying to survive. She didn't even have a name. Even so, Kibaa's mother decided to keep her and raise her as an Inuzuka. She gave her the name Okami, meaning wolf. Since then, she'd been stuck to Kiba like glue, and was so excited when she was chosen for Elite.

"Furi and your little brother make a good pair," Kitsune smiled fondly. "Furi's so happy all the time and I hear he's really talented , but he doesn't _show_ his abilities often. And Konchu's just like you, but with less emotions and more control of his chakra."

"Just begging for a fight, aren't you?" Keiko challenged.

"Maybe later." Kitsune threw a roll at her, which missed and hit Konchu. He didn't move. Trying to wake him up was almost impossible. "Mum will be home soon, so you should clean up a little, at the very least."

Keiko stuck her tongue out at her friend and ran upstairs to change, laughing as she tripped and fell back down again.

**A/N: So there you have it. Chapter one. Or two, I guess. Whatever. I'm really proud. I can't believe it was 2,000 words. And also, I'm sorry for not posting yesterday. I couldn't find time. **

**Kankuro: Meaning, she was watching anime**

**Mo: Don't tell them that, Neko-san!**

**Kankuro: For the last time, I'm not a cat!**

**Mo: Whatever you say. Oh, and yes. That **_**was**_** a Pokemon reference with Momo. Sorry, I had to. Shameless, I know.**

**Kankuro: In case you're wondering, the other 4 idiots are off somewhere deep in Mo-kun's house, trying to get back their boxers. I don't have to, because I already figured this would happen and hid mine.**

**Mo: Damn you, Kankuro! Tell me where!**

**Kankuro: NEVER!**

**P.S.: Reviews are loved, concrit is appreciated, and your flames are often hilarious. R&R?**


	3. Chapter 2: Intro to the AEF

**A/N: Hello, my beloved readers! I just finished the latest chapter. But I thought I'd do another introduction first, so you can get to know the other Elites and a **_**very **_**basic understanding of their personalities and such. If I forget anything you'd like to know, let me know, alright? I'll post the next chapter as soon as I finish this introduction. Here's ya go!**

The children who've have joined Akatsuki were once Elites of various ranks and villages. If a member of the Akatsuki saw promise in an Elite, they could ask the child to join them. Sometimes, the kids were recruited to a member without the member's consent. The child must commit some act to show their loyalty to their sensei. When a sensei is busy on a solo mission, the Elite is usually left at the hideout or sent on his/her own mission. There are 9 children in the Akatsuki Elite Forces (AEF) as of now.

Elite #1: Kakuzu chose Noroi of the Hidden Mist. He is 12 years old and a genin. He has earth and lightning chakra nature. His tool of choice is a thick whip, with a sharp metal tip on the end. He can curse anyone as long as he can get a full name, village (or the land the person comes from), and a drop of the person's blood on the end of his whip. The curse is similar to Hidan's, but it can only be released by Noroi and it will continue if he dies. The curse will cause immense and scarring pain. He prefers to use his kekkai genkai and he has great chakra control, he has no genjutsu, and he can use some taijutsu and ninjutsu. He has a dark purplish scar from his temple across left eye shaped like a flame. His eyes are turquoise-blue, his hair is black and spiky. Despite his frightening appearance, he is quite easy-going and loves to have fun.

Elite #2: Sasori chose Kanari of the Hidden Leaf. She is 14 years old and a chunin. She has earth and wind chakra natures. Her specialty jutsu is the Flame Jutsu (she can create flames from every chakra point in her body). Back in her village, her sister was a medical ninja. She would secretly copy her, and with her great chakra control she can easily use advanced techniques like the chakra scalpel. She's tough, but she can be materialistic (which annoys Sasori). She has a crush on Deidara (who's only just turned 17), but she would never admit it. She has short, sunlight-orange hair and blue eyes. She always wears black gloves with a small vertical slit on each fingertip. Her strength is almost that of Tsunade's.

Elite #3: Pein chose Yuki of the Hidden Leaf. He is 15 years old and a chunin. He has a lightning chakra nature. He is good with taijutsu, has excellent ninjutsu, and sucks at genjutsu. His tools of choice are a thin 2-sided scythe and various vials of…things. His twin brother, Ani, went rogue after he left. Yuki thinks he's better than the other AEFs and prefers not to take part in their 'childish antics'. He gets into arguments with Osore a lot. He has black hair, and cold black eyes. He can create poisons that can cause any number of painful deaths.

Elite #4: Kisame chose (and was then forbidden to un-chose) Osore of the Hidden Mist. She is 10 years old, and the youngest of any ANBU in any village (Timeline: Academy graduation: 6, Chunin promotion: 7½, Jonin promotion: 8½, ANBU recruitment: 9, Leaves the village: 9½). She has four of the five chakra natures (all but fire). She loves to antagonize Kisame. She dislikes Samehada since it once tried to eat her, and her chakra control has never been the same since. She is afraid of Itachi's Sharingan. She can be tempted with candy. Her eyes are blood-red and her hair is long and snow white and held in a ponytail. It takes on a bluish hue when she uses water jutsus or gets extremely irritated. She wears her headband over her eyes when she's training. She's a prankster and she will steal Hidan's scythe on occasion, and once cut off his hand as a dare. She likes to charge her blades with chakra and her speed is similar to that of Konoha's Yellow Flash. Her goal is to become the fastest and strongest shinobi in existence.

Elite #5: Itachi chose Ko of the Hidden Sand. She is 7 years old and had just entered the Academy when she joined the Akatsuki. She has a water chakra nature. She can control a person's blood and kill them instantly if she can get even a drop to form the seal on her palm. She prefers to use this kekkai genkai, has no taijutsu or ninjutsu, and has only slight ninjutsu. Her only tool is herself. She's very quiet and her independent nature gives people the illusion that she wants to be alone. She rarely speaks or shows emotion, and lets Itachi do the talking for her. Her hair is black and held in two ponytail over her shoulders. Her eyes are pitch black, so people usually get lost in them before you see anything else. When she _does_ speak, it's in a slow, calm manner that tends to fighten people. She can create poisons like Yuki, and likes to test them on Hidan.

Elite #6: Konan chose Ochisuite of the Hidden Sand. He is a 9 year old genin. He has wind and fire chakra natures. He uses ninjutsu and a bit of genjutsu, but doesn't use taijutsu. He's also a hawk trainer. He's in his own world, and is often only vaguely aware there are other people around him. He uses generic ninja tools and his hawk (that's loyal only to him). He always wears a thick hawk-glove on his left arm. He doesn't show a whole lot of emotion and he's very carefree. He spends a lot of time lounging around and talking to his hawk.

Elites #7 and #8: Deidara chose two kids from the Hidden Stone, a sister and her older brother. Chorui is a 9 year old genin and Tori is an 11 year old chunin. Deidara originally wanted Tori, but he took both since they refused to separate. But they listen well and worship him, so he likes them anyway. Chorui has a fire nature and Tori has a water nature. Chorui can only use ninjutsu, and Tori can't use genjutsu. Tori uses a chakra sword and Chorui uses normal ninja tools. Tori is usually pretty teamwork-y, and Chorui is happy to do whatever her big brother does (she follows him everywhere).

*As a side-note: Zetsu was supposed to help with Chorui but Black Zetsu makes her cry and White Zetsu is just weird so she's afraid of him. Tobi is not an _official_ member as of yet, but he's Zetsu's friend and so he's always hanging around the Akatsuki. He even recruited hid own AEF…a rock. It's obvious he's unstable, which is why he was deemed unsafe to take responsibility for a child on his own.

Elite #9: Kaminari was asked to join by Pein and assigned to Hidan, since he was the only remaining member without a trainee. She is almost 14 and a chunin. Hidan does his best to ignore and get rid of her, and she tries hard to annoy him death (she's currently winning). Secretly, she thinks very highly of him and has a deep respect for him, but she'd never let him know it.

**A/N: So that's the gist of the AEF. Now I can continue narrating, but with less explanations from out of nowhere. Hooray! Ahem… Oh! I thought I should tell you: I plan on censoring a lot of Hidan's language in the future. My A/N was going to be a lot longer and I was going to post the next chapter right after this, but I'm exhausted and I have to get up at 3 am. Stupid spring break. I want to sleep in, not wake up 3 hours earlier! Anyway, I think I'll go to bed now. I might post again this weekend or maybe during the week. It depends on how tired I am. Goodnight, everyone. Sweet dreams. See you on the interwebs…**

**P.S.: Reviews are loved, concrit is appreciated, and your flames are often hilarious. R&R?**


	4. Chapter 3: Poor Hidan

**A/N: Hey guys! So, I'm typing this up on Saturday, but it's longer than usual so it might not be posted until Sunday or Monday. So if you're reading this and you want to know why I'm taking so long, it's because A: I'm super lazy; B: I've been obsessed with anime and manga lately; and C: I keep telling myself I'll type and write later on, but I never get around to it. But I'm taking advantage of this rare moment of motivation to get some of this chapter typed. If it's not up at usual time, I'm sorry. Anyway, here's the latest!**

*Akatsuki Elite Forces*

"Alright, alright! All of you just _shut the hell up_!" Hidan yelled from deep in the Akatsuki's hideout. He stalked into the main room and fell back on the couch cursing.

Kaminari rolled her eyes. "Yelling won't help, sensei. You'll just make it worse." She smiled with mock-innocence.

"If I could get rid of you, I would," Hidan growled.

"Yeah, well, you can't. Pein-sama's orders." This was Kaminari's favorite pastime. She absolutely loved annoying Hidan-sensei more than anything.

"Look here, you brat!" Hidan yelled at Kaminari. He sure did a lot of yelling, especially with the AEFs.

Kaminari continued tracing a bloody star across her palm with a kunai. She had been a medical trainee back in her village and her body healed itself without interference from her own will. On top of that, she had an insanely high pain tolerance, and her masochism was made worse by Hidan-sensei.

"Yes, sensei?" Kami asked, purposely forgetting to look at him like he'd ordered.

"Pein left me in charge while he and the others went on the mission, so that means _I_ have to watch those stupid brats." Hidan glared at her while she continued to ignore him.

Kami stopped to admire the star even as it healed. "And what exactly does that have to do with me?"

"You know as well as I do that these kids won't listen to me!"

Kami finally rolled onto her back to look at him. "And I'm guessing you'd like me to help you? Now, why would I do something like that?" She yawned and stretched.

"If you _don't_, I'll probably end up _killing_ them all." Hidan gave her a meaningful look.

Kami sighed. "Though I doubt you could beat even _one_ of us, I'm getting sick of your complaining. So I'll help you just this once." She left Hidan muttering a slew of curse words she didn't care to repeat.

Kami jumped from the upper platform of the main room and headed to the inner areas of the hide out where the Elites slept. When she walked into the joint room that connected each of the Elite's rooms, she couldn't help but laugh.

The other eight Elites (plus Tobi, since he wasn't allowed on missions yet) were spread out across the room, trying to find something to do. Usually, the group was sent on its own mission while the rest of the Akatsuki was away, but they were laying low for the time being.

Kanari was attempting to form her flame jutsu and chakra scalpel at the same time on the same hand, on alternating fingers. It was interesting to watch and deadly fun to use, or so she said.

Osore was using chakra to further infuse her needles with poison. She'd been trying out new poisons lately, and testing them on Hidan, much to his displeasure.

Tori was sleeping with Chorui curled up next to him. Nearby, Noroi, the scary-looking boy with the scar over his eye, was laughing and talking very energetically to Ko. Ko, on the other hand, was silent. Kami saw the barest hint of a smile on her face before it disappeared again. The little girl, barely 7, never spoke or showed emotion. She preferred to let Itachi talk for her, and she thought emotions would let people know what she was thinking. Noroi was the only one who tried to talk to her, since he was too happy-go-skippy to be afraid of her intimidating air. Or maybe, it was because he was just as scary-looking.

Ochisuite was kicking back and talking to his hawk, Taka. It was odd, since the hawk seemed to understand him. Tobi was doing the same with AEF rock, which he called Rocky. He was very creative like that.

Finally, Yuki—the third loner—was not there. Kami looked around. A shadow fell across the hole in the ceiling of the cave. _He must be above, _she thought, _doing whatever it is Yuki's do all day._

As long as everything was under control, there was no need for Hidan to make her keep watch. She walked past him on her way outside.

"Where are _you_ going?" he asked, not really caring.

Kaminari shrugged. "First off, I don't see why it should matter, since I'm perfectly capable of watching out for myself, but—"

Hidan interrupted. "Why you—"

"_But_," Kami emphasized. "the kids are doing their kid thing so I'm going out for a bit."

"Where?"

"Well sensei, obviously since we're surrounded by forests and we're low on food, I _must _be going to the _moon_."

"Don't be such a smartass." Hidan retorted. He instinctively reached behind him for his scythe.

"What? Gonna try to kill me?" she taunted. "Well, come on then. Let's see if you can get me."

Hidan slammed his scythe down beside her, about half an inch from her arm.

"Oh, save it, sensei. We all know you won't do it," a voice said from behind them. They both spun around to see Osore grinning. Behind her, Chorui and Tori were having a tug-of-war over a kunai. _That_ battle wouldn't end well. Kami shrugged. She could heal them later.

"We heard you say you were going to get food," Osore explained.

Kami felt a tug on her belt loop. Ko stood there, emotionless as ever. "You wanna come too?" Kami asked. Ko nodded.

Osore grinned. "Alright, let's go. Oh, but first—" She formed an extra-long ice kunai behind her back and passed it to Ko, who added a drop of her newest paralyzer to the tip. Testing her poisons on Hidan always held promising results. She then passed the dagger to Kami. Kami added lightning as the final touch then flung the icy, electric, poison dagger at sensei. As usual, he didn't react in time and it hit him the chest. They watched as it shocked him, paralyzed him, then melted away, leaving a bloody mess.

"You damn brats!" Hidan roared, while lying motionless. "That's the fifth time this week!"

Osore shrugged. "First, you let your guard down. And second, causing you harm is just too tempting. Maybe since we've done this _five_ _times_, you'd have learned to be more alert. Guess not."

Hidan hissed. "What I wouldn't give to—"

"Slit my throat? Shove that scythe through my chest? _Curse _me?" Osore asked, wiggling her fingers mockingly. "Even if you _could_, Kami would just heal me up again. Besides, I _live_ for pain."

Hidan muttered something like, "Damn masochists."

Behind them, there was a thunk, and Chorui and Tori screamed. Without looking, she could tell Yuki had dropped from above. "While tormenting sensei brings delight to everyone's moods, we really should get going." He looked at the others like he couldn't care less what childish games they played, but it was obvious he wanted to play too. Unfortunately, he had some weird idea in his head, like he couldn't be as dignified if he took part.

Kami sighed. "He's right, you four. We'll treat it as a training mission, alright?" Everyone bobbed their heads in agreement. "Good. I'll assign positions and jobs." Kami thought for a moment, trying to find the best way to place everyone. "Now, we'll go in three squads, each doing a different job based on our strengths. Squad one will be Yuki and Ko. Ko is on weapons and supplies. Yuki, we need information. See if you can find anything about the Jinchuriki. If we can go on a real mission again, that'd be great." Kami pulled out five summoning scrolls, handing them to everyone but Yuki. "Use these to store anyone supplies or food you gather. Now, squad 1, move out!" Yuki and Ko glanced at each other briefly and disappeared.

"Osore, you're hunting, so you're squad 2 alone."

"Fine by me, that's more my style anyway." Osore winked and pulled her hood low over her face, then disappeared with a smoke bomb.

Kami shook her head. "So theatrical." She turned to the remaining two, the Earth siblings. "And that leaves the three of us in squad 3. Tori is in charge of getting fish, Chorui will gather food, herbs, and other things people tend to gather—"

Chorui opened her mouth to speak but Kami cut her off. "And _no_, that does _not_ include animals," she said quickly.

"But—"

"No."

"What about—"

"No people either."

"But what if—"

"No. No pets, or kids, or monsters. Just supplies and food. Got it?"

Chorui pouted. "Yeah, okay."

Kami patted her head. "Good girl. Now, let's get going."

And with that, they left Hidan, still bleeding and swearing, all alone. He'd have to keep track of Tobi, Ochisuite, Noroi, _and_ Kanari by himself. That is, after he managed to get unparalyzed and stop his bleeding.

**A/N: Hey everyone! That's it for this week's chapter! Now, please read my request below. I need everyone's help with a little something-something.**

**REQUEST: Shinobi needed. If you want to be a character, let me know. I need ninjas for the Village of Fanfiction. Various positions are open and need to be filled. You can be a ninja, civilian, subordinate of the otakukage, ice cream vedor, assassain, or pretty much anything else you can think of. Also, if you want to be a character that gets killed off, that's fine too.**

**QUALIFICATIONS: I guess you have to be alive, and you have to leave a review or PM so I'll be able to use you.**

**INFO NEEDED: Name (the one you prefer in the story, maybe with a Japanese last name if possible), age (whatever age you prefer to be), abilities (if any), preferred position, background, personality, family (NO YOU CAN'T BE DIRECTLY RELATED TO **_**ANY**_** Naruto CHARACTERS, THOUGH YOU MAY BE FROM THE SAME CLAN), kekkai genkai (if any), special tools, looks, and (if you love me and want to make my life easier) a picture/drawing/sketch of your character for reference. If you want to be killed off, I need to know how you want to die. Any other info would be great too.**

**FORBIDDEN: Any unoriginality such as jinchurikis, kids with awful/horrible/depressing/pain-filled pasts, direct family members of Naruto characters, and anything else canon. Try to be original, my darlings.**

**WARNING: I can't promise how often you'll be mentioned. Finally: I WILL NOT BE PAYING YOU. So don't expect money. Just the satisfaction of being in a story. And maybe some metaphorical cookies.**

**Well, that's it for now, guys. I love you all, and just let me know the above info if you wanna be a ninja for me. It doesn't matter when you read this. I can always find place for you. Until next time, try not to fall down the stairs! Bye!**

**P.S.: Reviews are loved, concrit is appreciated, and your flames are often hilarious.**


	5. Chapter 4: Ah, the Failures of Trapping

**A/N: Mo here. I'm really hungry.**

**Iggy: That's really off-topic.**

**Mo: Oh, and I let my darling Iggy anf Fang back in the A/Ns. It got lonely without them. **

**Fang: We know this is late, but we've been busy failing classes, getting licenses, and trying out for colorguard.**

**Mo: Yeah, me letting Iggy drive was not bright. How he passed, I have no idea.**

**Fang: For those not familiar with our story, Iggy is a blind pyromaniac. And an idiot.**

**Iggy: Am not!**

**Mo: Are so times infinity! Now for the next chapter!**

"This is Kami, Squad 3," Kaminari said into the radio around her neck. They'd each made sure to grab one before leaving. "Squad one, report." She heard Yuki sigh. He hated being ordered around by anyone younger. Unfortunately, that meant _all_ of the other elites.

"Yeah, yeah. This is Yuki, Squad 1." There was a long pause. "Oh, and Ko's here too," he said after moment, realizing her lack of speaking.

"Good. Now, Squad 2."

Osore's bubbly voice echoed over the receiver. "It's just me, but I'm here."

Kami laughed. "And obviously I'm here, but how about the rest of Squad 3?"

"Heeeerrreeee!" Chorui and Tori chorused.

"Awesome." Kaminari checked her watch. "Then we have about 2 hours before dark. Pein-sama said we needed to be back inside by then. Get what we need and meet back at the edge of the cliff. Check in if there are any problems, 'kay? Over and out."

"Kami-neesan?" Chorui asked from somewhere behind her.

Kami continued jumping from tree to tree, dodging a branch. "Yeah? What's up?"

"Nothing. I was just wondering," Chorui sounded extremely curious, "well, where do babies come from?"

_Crap,_ Kaminari thought. _Where the hell did that come from? _"Umm, why do you ask?" Kami tried to keep her voice even.

"Well, Tobi-nii said they come from the moon, and he said they fly down here and find mommies. But Noroi-niisan called him a liar. He started to tell me what really happens, but Kanari-nee, Ochi-kun, and Yuki-nii tackled him and covered his mouth until he passed out."

_Damn Noroi_.Though Choroi had just turned 9, she'd been with Akatsuki for a while. This wasn't a topic that came up often, so it wasn't really discussed. Although once, while Chorui was on a mission with Deidara, Tori had asked the same question. Hidan proceeded to explain in great detail, scarring most of them for life. Of course, everyone (including their sensei) did their best to cause him great pain afterwards.

"Well, that's more of a question for sensei, don'cha think? Just ask Deidra or Zetsu." Kami laughed nervously.

"Oh. Alright then." Chorui was silent after that.

"Squad 3, split up!" Kami called a few minutes later. They nodded to her and disappeared, Chorui to the left and Tori to the right. Kami landed lightly on a branch. She sat down and pulled a piece of paper from the backpack she was carrying. She read off each item on the list and double checked to make sure all the tools were there. They only had 5 traps set in the area, but she'd still have to reset them after she checked them.

The first two traps were empty, but the third had two rabbits caught in it. She put the rabbits in a cloth, then into the backpack. The fourth trap was also empty, but the rope had been cut. Kami climbed the tree and tied a new rope in its place.

"Now, where's the last one?" she wondered aloud. "I know it's around here somewhere-AHH!" Next thing she knew, she was hanging upside down, dangling by her left ankle. Her tools fell out of her bag and onto the ground, 15 feet below. Kami groaned. "Well, I found it." She surveyed her options. "Well, I guess I could try to untie the rope."

Unfortunately, the loop was too tight around her leg. She couldn't cut it either, because her tools were on the ground. Radio-ing for help would make her seem weak and stupid for falling into the trap, especially since it was one she had set in the first place.

She glanced up. The branch the held the rope was about 10 feet above her, and the tree trunk was about 3 feet away, even after she stretched her arm as far as she possibly could. She'd have to climb the rope using only her arms. "This is where all that stupid training with sensei pays off." She clenched her teeth and grabbed the rope around her ankle. Slowly, she pulled herself up enough to reach the branch. She put one hand on the tree, then swung her right leg over so she had one leg on either side. "Now to get this damn rope off." Since the knot wouldn't budge, she'd have to cut it. There _was_ one thing she could try, but so far, she'd never gotten it quite right.

"Guess I don't have much of a choice unless I want to stay up here forever." She began focusing her chakra into her left hand. Not enough to cut internal organs or muscles, of course, just enough to cut outer objects.

"Chakra scalpel it is." The chakra glowed visibly blue. She fought to keep control of it. Just as she was about to cut the rope, her chakra overpowered her and she lost control. The scalpel disappeared and the chakra dissipated. She tried again, with the same effect. When she tried a third time, she was shocked to find that she'd used up almost all of her chakra.

She checked her watch. Only 30 minutes until dark. Everyone would be heading to the meeting point soon. She reached for the button on the radio.

"Hey there!" a voice called below. Osore grinned up at her. "Did somebody get caught?" she patronized.

"Oh, shut it," Kaminari said irritably.

"So, did you catch anything other than yourself?"

"Just two rabbits." She slid the pack from her shoulders and dropped it down below. "Come up here and get me down! All my tools slid out out of my bag!"

"Kami-nee? You're about 25 feet off the ground. With my chakra control, do you really think I'd make it?"

Truthfully, Osore's chakra control used to be excellent, but ever since she'd almost been eaten by Samehada, it hadn't been as strong. Osore reverse-summoned the rabbits into a scroll, putting it in her bag with another scroll labeled 'deer'.

"So now what?" Osore asked.

Kaminari sighed. "I guess we'll have to call Yuki." She reached for the speaker. The band around her neck chose this moment to snap. The radio fell 25 feet to the ground.

"Or _you_ could call him," she revised.

"Looking for me?" Yuki's cool voice whispered in her ear.

She jumped and whirled around, the combined motion knocking her off the branch. Her high pain-tolerance didn't prevent her from crying out when the rope snapped taut.

Yuki rolled his eyes while Kaminari yelled a long stream of very impolite words, mostly telling Yuki what he could go do with himself. "Hey, Oso-chan? Catch her for me, would you?"

He cut the rope and Kami, still screaming, fell headfirst into Osore, who was not quite ready for such an occurrence.

Kaminari slid off Osore and winced. "Sorry 'bout that." She tuned on Yuki. "Why the hell would you do that?"

He shrugged. "It's your own fault for getting stuck in the first place. Pathetic. Besides, you'll heal yourself right up, anyway."

She shook her head in disgust and ran her hands over the areas that hurt the most. Her neck seemed okay and her neck was unharmed, but her left leg and knee had definitely both been dislocated, her left wrist sprained, and two fingers on her right hand broken. "Even with my medical ninjutsu, it'll take at least a day before I can walk again, and three before my hands heal properly.

Ko, ever the silent child, sat down beside Kami. She pulled a bandage from her bag and wrapped Kami's wrist. Then she splinted Kaminari's fingers and wrapped them too.

"Thanks, sweetie. At least _someone_ paid attention when I explained basic first-aid." Kami winced again as she gave Osore and Yuki, who weren't paying attention, very pointed looks. "I also need someone to re-align my leg."

"I'll do it," Yuki volunteered, a little too enthusiastically.

Osore pushed him aside. "Yeah, no. As much as I'm _sure_ she'd _love_ the resident _sadist_ re-locating her leg, I don't think it's a bright idea. _I'll_ do it."

"Like hell, you will!" Yuki retorted. "You're too reckless! You'll end up _breaking _her leg!"

Ko sat down criss-cross while they argued. She braced Kaminaari's leg and Kaminari, realizing what she was about to do, clenched her teeth. Ko pushed firmly for a split second and Kaminari's leg joint slid back into place. Kaminari bit down a scream. Ko moved to her knee without waiting for the pain to subside. She repeated the process, but this time Kaminari _did_ scream. Ko, though her face betrayed no sign of feeling, seemed to have a very anxious quality lingering behind those dark, emotionless eyes.

"Don't worry, Ko-chan. That's much better, now. Thanks," Kaminari reassured her.

Yuki and Osore had finally stopped bickering. Since Kaminari couldn't walk, it was decided Yuki would carry her. Ko picked up all the tools and put hem in her bag (after cutting the rope that was still around Kaminari's leg, of course).

Using Ko's radio, which, in retrospect was quite useless to her since she didn't speak, they contacted Chorui and Tori, who'd already reached the meeting point.

As the sky grew darker and rthe sun finally set, the four of them reached the chosen cliff. Chorui was asleep with her head into Tori's lap, her scrolls held tightly in her little arms. Tori shook her awake and she rubbed her eyes.

"Is Kami-neesan back?" she yawned.

"Yeah," Tori replied tiredly.

Yuki set Kaminari down. She opened her pack and pulled out her scroll, wincing as she moved her hands.

"Alright. I got two rabbits and Osore managed to get a deer. How about you guys?" Each handed her a scroll. "In total we have 2 rabbits, a deer, fifteen fish, enough herbs to last about 3 months, and plenty of fruits and such." Kaminari smiled victoriously. "Mission successful."

Yuki tossed Ko's scroll to her. "We have enough weapons to completely re-supply. Unfortunately, I could not find anything about the jinchuriki."

Kaminari waved dismissively. "I'm not worried. I'm sure the sensei will have something for us when they return."

When they got back, Hidan was gone. After a quick search, they found him trying to kill Tobi. Yuki left the younger kids and Kanari to separate them and took Kaminari to her room.

As he turned to leave, she grabbed his sleeve. He glanced over his shoulder. "What is it?" he asked.

"I just-," she inhaled deeply, " I—thanks."

He nodded once and she released his sleeve. "Get some sleep," he said as he closed her door quietly.

Kaminari smiled contentedly to herself and pulled her blankets higher. _Hopefully, tomorrow will be a little calmer, _she thought to herself as she fell asleep to dreams of inflicting on Hidan both physical _and_ mental pain.

**A/N: Hey everyone! Sorry, it took forever to type this. As you can see, I'm not dead. I've just had a lot of work and school lately. I promise to get back on schedule, and I'll try to make up for the past weeks of missed chapters. I'll keep my Fairy Tail running in the background and that should keep me plenty focused. Wish me luck!**

**Fang: Also, character spaces are still open for the Village of FFN. Submit them if you'd like.**

**P.S.: Reviews are loved, concrit is appreciated, and your flames are often hilarious. ~Love, Mo.**


	6. Chapter 5: Try not to Die

**A/N: Hello, my darling little humans! Who want metaphorical cookies? –shakes head to clear thoughts- Ahem. Anyway, I'm working really hard to stay on schedule with updates. I'm also trying to plan going to Hoshicon with my club next year. Okay, so on another note: here's the newest chapter.**

*The Konoha Elites*

Keiko stretched and yawned. Sh'ed woken up unusually early that morning. She left a note on the table for her family and Kitsune, then headed for the training arena to get in some practice. She still had an hour before she had to be at the academy.

Much to her surprise, she wasn't the only one who'd come for practice. Even in the early-morning darkness, she instantly recognized the bright orange clothing and yellow hair. Then again, that might've been because the arena was filled with hundreds of him.

"Naruto-kun?" she gasped.

Her voice surprised him, making him lose focus. All the clones disappeared, leaving one very tired-looking ninja.

"Oh, you're from that other class, right?" he asked, after catching his breath. He seemed taken aback that someone was talking to him.

"Huh? Oh, um…yeah," Keiko replied lamely. The normal classes didn't know the secret behind the elite class, which would be that they were, in fact, elite. She had to be very careful and watch her responses. "Um, my name's Keiko."

"Oh, right! Now, I remember!" He laughed. "You were one of the few to graduate in your class."

"So were you, right?"

"Yeah. Some things happened, but everything worked out okay in the end." He looked at her sheepishly, though she couldn't tell why.

"That clone jutsu was absolutely amazing! Could you teach it to me?" She gave him a pleading look.

He cocked his head to one side. "What, you mean the Multi-Shadow Clones?"

"Shadow clones," Keiko said to herself. She grinned at Naruto. "Yeah, could you show me how to do it?"

Naaruto thought about this for a moment. "I'd be happy to show you, but I'm totally drained already."

Keiko bit her lip." What about tomorrow then? After the sun sets, you know?"

"Sounds good to me. For now, I'm going home to get some sleep. See you tomorrow!"

"You got it. Bye, Naruto!" Keiko waved to him.

He glanced over his shoulder wearing a huge grin. "Bye, Keiko!"

Keiko checked her watch as the sun began to rise. She'd wasted so much time talking she'd completely missed her chance to train. If she didn't head to the academy soon, she would be late. She quickly found her way to the meeting place behind the school. Aoba-sensei was already waiting.

"Ohayogozaimasu, sensei!" Keiko called. "Are Momo and Atisuto here yet?"

Aoba rolled his eyes. "No, did you really expect them to be?"

She shook her head. "No, not really." She found a soft patch of grass and sprawled out. Looking up, she watched the clouds pass by. As they continued going along in their very cloud-like way, they started growing steadily darker. Drops of water fell from the sky. Aoba seemed to think nothing of it. Keiko sat up and leaned against the fence, shaking the water from her eyes. There was no sign of the other boys and it was way past time already.

She heard a sound from the roof of the building and momnets later, Momo jumped from the edge. He landed perfectly in the middle of a giant puddle, effectively soaking both Keiko and himself.

"Atisuto here yet?" he asked nonchalantly, as if he hadn't just splashed mud on a very impatient Keiko.

"Thanks, I definitely thought I wasn't soaked enough as it was. That extra coat of mud really helped. And no, Atisuto's not—" she stopped when she heard a voice steadily growing closer.

"I'm here! Sorry!" Atisuto stammered. "I woke up late and forgot my bag as I left, and then I got lost on the way."

Momo gaped at him. "How the _hell_ did you get lost? You come to school _every day_."

Atisuto shrugged. "Dunno. But I did."

Aoba ran a hand through his hair. "Well, you're both late, but at least you're here."

"So, what exactly is this test?" Momo asked when they reached the arena.

Aoba grinned in a very mysterious and chilling way. "simple. I have one bell in the center of the arena. Whoever gets it will pass. The remaining two will be tied to the posts together overnight, and will try again in the morning. The one who doesn't get the bell in round two will fail and be sent back to the academy. There are no rules and no time limits, but you should know 2 things: First, the longer you take, the hungrier you will be. And second," Aoba looked them each in the eye, "if you aren't prepared to die, you won't pass this test."

They glanced warily at each other. Keiko gulped.

Aoba laughed lightly. "And remember: _have fun_!" He gave them an overly exaggerated thumbs-up. "Now, everyone ready?" He didn't wait for a reply. "Go!"

**A/N: Okay, this was an unusually short chapter. With that in mind, I might post another tonight to make up for it. I'm mostly back on schedule with typing, so expect chapter weekly again. Also, I'd like to thank ShinigamiinPeru and sco23 for the use of their characters and for reviewing. They're awesome. Especially Shinigami, you should go check her out. Finally, I thought I'd let you guys know I check my PMs here about 100 times a day, so if you send me anything or review, or even leave a character, I should get back to you immediately. I love all of you guys! See you next time!**

**P.S.: Reviews are loved, concrit is appreciated, and your flames are often hilarious. R&R? ~Mo**


	7. Chapter 6: Teammates?

**A/N: Hey guys! Short update, please enjoy! There probably won't be another update until next week, since I have exams. Sorry about that. Heh heh, Fang's gonna fail, but Iggy might pass.**

**Iggy: It's true. Fang, the little teacher's pet, is studying hard like a good little boy.**

**Fang: *from the other room* Shut up!**

**Mo: Anyway, ignore the random idiocy and enjoy chapter 7! (Or 6…or 8…I know I'm somewhere around 7…)**

Keiko hit the ground, breathing hard. By then, the arena had been entirely transformed. Aoba had asked some guy from ANBU to help with the test, and the arena was a labyrinth, complete with a small, but thick forest, dozens of cliffs, ravines, rocks, and a deep pool surrounding the now-raised platform which held the bell.

Aoba didn't seem to be participating, other than setting traps, so they didn't have to worry about fighting yet. Keiko gave herself a mental peptalk as she reentered the danger zone.

_This is no time to be tired. You need to get to the center, and the boys might already be there. They're more experienced than you, so you need to focus,_ she told herself. She took a deep breath. _Okay. You can do this._

She stepped back into the maze. She'd already memorized where most of the dead-ends and circling-traps were. She ignored the first three lefts, taking the fourth and immediately turning right. Then, she walked to the end of the corridor and took another left. Two more rights, a left, and another right later, she found herself in the center of the arena. At the same moment, Atisuto and Momo exited their paths as well.

They watched each other warily. Keiko glanced up at the bell. It was about 100 feet up a flat surface of rock now. She'd have to use her chakra control. All three ran toward it at the same time. Atisuto activated a pitfall trap on the way, and didn't make it to the platform. Momo, the chakra control prodigy, was halfway up the wall before hitting a trip wire. He narrowly dodged the arrows that shot towards him. Keiko got to the wall, but couldn't make it more than about 20 feet. _Wait a sec, _Keiko thought, _Why would sensei make this with only one bell? How the hell does that promote teamwork?_

She coughed hard, feeling her control failing while she balanced on the side of the wall. She fell into the water and sank beneath its surface. _So tired, _she thought as she closed her eyes. _Just need… a little…rest…_

Moments later, she sat up, choking on water. Momo sat beside her, panting. Atisuto joined them, after he disengaged the pitfall and climbed out.

"Guys, I think I figured it out," he said. "Obviously, only one of us can get the bell. The point is to make us turn on each other so no one will get it and we'll all lose." He paused and Keiko motioned for him to continue. "Well, if we keep this up, we'll all die of exhaustion. Therefore—and I can't believe I'm saying this—I think Momo should go for the bell."

Momo immediately objected. "Why me? If I get the bell, you two will be tied up without food!"

But keiko shook her head. "He's right. You have the best chakra control and you're the only one of us who can even reach the stupid bell. On top of that, you're a Genjutsu user, so you're not used to this sort of fighting. We'll be fine."

"But," Momo argued, "There'll only be one bell tomorrow too."

"We'll think of something. Just go." Keiko gave him a slight shove. He gave them one last look and nodded.

As soon as he reached the bell, Aoba appeared. "How very _noble_ of you two," Aoba said mockingly, while they glared at him. "But now, you two will stay here over night. You will be tied to the posts, and if _anyone_ brings you food to you, you both fail and that person will be killed." They gaped at him. "Just kidding, but they will be stripped of all their shinobi qualifications, which would really suck. Is that understood?"

Keiko and Atisuto nodded determinedly. Yamato, the ANBU guy, returned the arena to normal, other than two posts. Aoba tied them up, also wrapping their wrists and ankles.

"Well, see you tomorrow. Oh, and by the way," he glanced back, "Tomorrow, you won't be trying to reach a bell. You'll be fighting Hatake Kakashi for it." He winked at them and waved. "Well, bye then!" He, Yamato, and Momo disappeared, with Momo looking very uneasy and apologetic.

Keiko and Atisuto looked at each other in horror.

"Kakashi?" Keiko yelped. "_Sharingan_ _no_ _Kakashi_?"

"The legendary Copy Ninja," Atisuto breathed in awe. "Aw, we can do this! No problem!"

Keiko smacked him. "Stop being so cheerfully optimistic!" She groaned. "What the hell is Aoba-sensei thinking? He'll kill us!" At that moment her stomach growled loudly. "Okay, I know I told Momo we'd be fine," Keiko whimpered, "But I'm so hungry right now!"

"Same here," Atisuto hung his head. "Come to think of it, how are we supposed to fight Kakashi on an empty stomach?"

They sat pondering this for a while. Atisuto fell asleep and didn't wake up until nightfall. The arena was almost pith black and the stars covered the sky like some sort of annoying sparkly blanket. It was dead silent. No, wait. They could hear very soft footsteps getting closer, like someone didn't want to be heard. Keiko looked at Atisuto warily.

"Hey guys," Momo whispered.

Atisuto, rather than being excited, was quite angry. "Momo? What the hell do you think you're doing here? If sensei catchers you, you'll be stripped of all your shinobi qualifications! If you think—hey is that food?" Atisuto changed topic midsentence, seeing the bag Momo was carrying.

Momo nodded. "Quiet, or someone might hear."

Keiko shook her head. "It's too dangerous! Get out of here!"

"Don't worry, no one's here. I checked already." Momo knelt down and pulled the food from his bag. "It's not much, just riceballs."

Atisuto tried his very best to hug him, but found himself unable. "Momo, have I ever told you how much I love you?"

Momo slid away from him. "No, you haven't but I'd like to keep it that way, alright?"

He grabbed one of the riceballs and held it for Keiko while she ate.

"It's so good!" she gushed.

"No time for savoring! Just eat!" Momo scolded.

"Sorry," Keiko said sheepishly, taking another bite.

_*Meanwhile, in Elsewhere-ville (AKA, the roof of the arena)*_

"Well, they're not too bright, but they're not idiots." Hatake Kakashi watched the three ninjas from his spot on the roof. Anko, who'd wanted to come watch as well, was fast asleep beside him.

"Yeah. As much as I'd like to drag this out and see them fight you, I suppose I should pass the little twits," Aoba sighed. "Come on, then, let's go scare them." Kakashi nodded, and they left Anko snoring on the roof.

Atisuto was just finishing the last riceball when Aoba and Kakashi appeared.

"_What _do you think you're doing?" Aoba roared.

"Aah!" Momo fell backwards. The other two, who couldn't fall _anywhere, _settled on screaming instead.

Aoba and Kakashi started laughing. Kakashi high-fived Aoba. "Don't worry, you guys actually pass!" Aoba grinned.

"What, seriously?" Kekio asked.

Aoba nodded. "Yep. The test was to challenge your teamwork. Only one of you could get the bell, so the other two would sacrifice themselves. Then, the one who passed would return to help you, even going against orders to do so. _That_ is exactly what being a ninja means. You three did well."

Kakashi sliced the ropes around them, and Keiko hugged both her now-official teammates. "We passed! We're Genin for real now!"

Atisuto half-hugged her back. "Yeah, and that's great and all, but can we _please_ go get some more food?"

Aoba laughed. "Sure, why not. Kakashi, wanna come?"

"Wouldn't miss it," he smiled. Well, they assumed he smiled, since they couldn't actually see his mouth. He followed them out of the arena.

_*Meanwhile, back on top of the arena*_

Anko groaned and opened her eyes. "Oh? I fell asleep. Hey, how are they doing?" She looked around when she got no reply, but everyone was gone. "Hello? Guys?"

**A/N: So, another short chapter.**

**Fang: Two in one weekend. I'm surprised. Is it a special occasion?**

**Mo: I will not even dignify that! **

**P.S.: Reviews are loved, concrit is appreciated, and your flames are often hilarious. ~Love, Mo**


	8. Chapter 7: Team IceCream

**A/N: Hey everyone! I'm on the way to the beach right now. Yes, I'm driving, so I'm dictating this to Fang and Iggy. I've decided to let Fang type this one up, since it's not like he can really mess it up a whole lot.**

**Fang: Thanks for the vote of confidence.**

**Mo: No problem.**

**Iggy: So, yeah, we're typing a short chapter this time. That way, we can get it done before we get there. It'd be faster if Mo typed it, but she won't let me drive.**

**Mo: Iggy? You're **_**blind**_**!**

**Iggy: And your point would be?**

**Mo: -shakes head sadly-**

"Lady Otakukage!" Kuro Shinigami half-sang, as he and his little team strode into her office. "We're ba—Hey, is that chocolate?" Kuro loved sweets, even though he was a jonin and 15 years old. He never seemed to gain any weight from all the candy he consumed either. The hyper-activity sure increased though.

Lady Mitaiga Isogai, the third Otakukage, shook her head. "Focus, Kuro. How was the mission? Did all go well?"

Kuro was still focused on the chocolate sitting on the desk, so Ichigo Sanaka answered for him. "Everything was fine. We escorted the girl to her village without any trouble."

Mitaiga smiled, relieved that there hadn't been any run-ins with the enemy ninja nearby the girl's village. Usually, Team Ice-Cream got stuck with extremely difficult missions. Their skills were and experience were second only to her seven personal attendants and her own. "In that case, why don't we all take a visit to the local hot springs? I have something else I'd like to discuss with you there while you relax."

Her attendant, Alisa, frowned. "But, Lady Mitaiga, you really—"

Mitaiga shrugged her off. She respected their input, of course, but since she was still 19, she often had a tendency to by stubborn and strong-willed. Aside from Liza, who was 18, and Leo, who was 19, all of her attendants were older, so she felt they sometimes doubted her ability to lead the village. "Don't worry. You, Kouta, Leo, and Liza can continue the search on your own for now. Koroshi and Team silence will return soon. We'll join you later."

Alisa fought the urge to argue. "Yes, m'lady." She left quickly, leaving the five of them alone.

"Now then," Mitaiga began. "How about those hot springs?"

Kuro Shinigami looked quite dejected. This could be because he couldn't bring his stash of candy into the bath with him. Or maybe it was the fact that his two idiot teammates were arguing. _Again_. But it was probably just the candy thing.

Banira, finally sick of Chokoreto and Ichigo's banter, grabbed both by the throats and held them under the water. Strangely, the co-ed bath was deserted that day, so there was no one to scold them for playing around. Even Mitaiga had yet to come out of the ladies' changing room.

"Alright, Banira," Kuro motioned for her to release the boys. "Let them breath. It would be bad if they were to die on us." He sure didn't sound like it would be bad. In fact, it sounded like he thought it was quite amusing.

"You could—try caring—a little—" Ichigo gasped. Chokoreto was too busy choking up water to add his input.

"Sensei, could you _please_ go see what's taking Mitaiga so long?" Banira whined. Kuro nodded. He hated her whining and haad quickly learned the the fastest way to shut her up was to give in. He started to get out, then thought better of it.

"That's the ladies' room. I can't go in there," he explained.

"Can't go in where?" Mitaiga asked, appearing at the doorway. "Sorry to keep you all waiting."

"Oh, it's no problem," Kuro said quickly. "What was it you wanted to discuss with us?"

"Oh, just a new assignment. We have a sort of," Mitaiga searched for the right word, "_murderer_, on our hands."

"A murderer?" Chokoreto asked.

"Yes. They're calling her Ketsueki-hime—Blood Princess. Four of my attendants and I have been searching for her with no success. She's already killed seven in the past week."

Banira twirled a strand of her hair absentmindedly. "So, you want our team to check it out?"

Mitaiga nodded. "Precisely. You're our best team, and until Team Silence returns, we'll need all the help we can get."

"Not to change the subject," Kuro started, "but has anyone seen Ichigo?"

Chokoreto's eyes widened. "Oh, I completely forgot. He's sensitive to heat!" He started groping around in the water, mumbling anxiously as he went. "Where'd he go? That's not it. No, that's my foot. Wait—I think I found him!"

Unfortunately, for Chokoreto, he hadn't found Ichigo. He'd actually found Banira, and due to serious injury only caused by grabbing a girl in certain places, he was forced to give up the search. Mitaiga quickly found both boys and Kuro helped her carry them inside.

"We'll let them rest for a few minutes." Mitaiga and Banira went back to the girls' room to change, and Kuro slid back into his own clothes. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a jawbreaker, popping it in his mouth. Then, finding a marker in his backpack, he proceeded to draw all over his teammates' faces.

"That's extremely immature, you realize?" Mitaiga watched disapprovingly from the door.

Kuro paused for a moment. "You wanna do it too?" He held the marker out temptingly.

Mitaiga stood for a moment, her conflicted emotions showing clearly across her face. Finally, she gave in. "Give it to me." She snatched the marker out of his grip. With the marker inches from Ichigo's face, Banira appered from nowhere.

"Honestly, could you two be _any_ more childish?"

Mitaiga and Kuro spun around, Mitaiga throwing the marker over her shoulder and Kuro sneaking another piece of candy into his mouth.

"So, are leaving on this mission or not?" Banira asked impatiently.

Kuro crossed his arms. "The last thng I want to do is go chasing a murderer all over the village."

Banira dug in her tool pouch for a moment. "Would you do it for a jelly bean?"

Kuro rolled his eyes. "Just beacause I love candy, doesn't mean I'll go look for the Blood Princess over a jellybean."

Jellybeans?"

Kuro stared at the jellybeans in her palm. "Fine. But only because I want to, _not_ because you bribed me with candy."

Banira nodded with mock-seriousness. "Whatever gets you to sleep at night, sensei." She grabbed his wrist and pulled him along, tossed Ichigo over her shoulders, and walked out. Chokoreto had just recovered from his temporary loss of consciousness, so he followed her on his own.

"Oh, I remembered!" Mitaiga gasped, grabbing his arm. She handed him a thin scroll. "This holds all the information we've collected on Ketsueki-hime. You'll need it." She handed him another scroll, this one slightly larger. "And _this one_ is for Kuro. IT holds the research he asked for. Don't forget to give it to him."

"What is—"

"Just give it to him. You'll see soon enough." Mitaiga winked at him and dropped a smoke bomb. When the smoke cleared, Mitaiga was gone and Chokoreto was blushing scarlet.

"Damn her," he grumbled, running to catch up with the rest of Team Ice-Cream.

**A/: Like I said, short chapter, right?**

**Fang: Perfect time too, since we just got to the beach.**

**Mo: Yep. We're going to go rent our boat now, so I guess we'll see you guys next week. Tomorrow is my last day of school, so I'll be able to type more.**

**Iggy: You **_**hope**_**. **

**Mo: Yeah. Oh, one more thing: from here on out there will be 'sets' of chapter. They will be sets of three (Akatsuki ERlite, Konoha Elite, Fanfiction). They will follow the same timeline. Chapter 4-7, plus this one and the next (that's chapters 4-9 people) are all on the day after Naruto graduates from the academy. The sets are like "same day different place" types of chapters. I hope that's not too confusing. If you have anything you want to know, just ask okay? All that's left to say is **_**Thanks so much for 100+ hits! This is the first time I've gotten so many in such a short time! I'll try to be a better updater for you guys. You're all awesome!**_

**P.S.: Reviews are loved, concrit is appreciated, and your flames are often hilarious.**


	9. Chapter 8: Insert Clever Title Here

**A/n: Hey, it's me again! I'm on my way back from the beach. Fang sort of…drowned, so Iggy's typing this time while Fang sleeps. I'm trying to update faster. Like I told Shinigami, if I don't find a way to update faster, my next arc will take until December. So I'm working my ass off, trying to get it written so I can edit. **

**Iggy: She's going to over-work herself to death again.**

**Me: You can only over-work yourself **_**to death**_** once, Iggy.**

**Iggy: Unless you're a ghost who can die again.**

**Me: …Iggy is officially forbidden from talking for the rest of the car trip for undermining me. Just type Iggy. **

**Iggy: …**

"Yay!" Kuro half-sang. "The research is done! It's done, it's done, the research is done! Now I can continue with my training! Yay!"

Ichigo, Chokoreto, and Banira watched their leader jump around with varying looks of doubt written plainly on their faces.

Banira sighed and shook her head. "Sensei, what exactly _is_ this research anyway?"

Somehow, Kuro managed to stop bouncing long enough to reply. "It hs to do with the properties of my kekkai genkai."

Ichigo shuddered. "You mean the Dark release, which you use to crush your opponent in seconds without any effort on your part?"

"No, silly," Kuro laughed and poked Ichigo in the eye. "My Crystal release."

Ichigo rubbed his eye. "Okay first, _ow_. And second, what kind of research did Mitaiga do exactly?"

"Well, until now, I could only create small crystals to play with or use as weapons, but with this I can use many different types of crystals and manipulate their forms!"

"How does it work?" Banira asked curiously, looking over his shoulder to read the scroll.

_Red-burns_

_Orange- leaves/holds/carries messages_

_Yellow- can be manipulated like an extension of one's own arm_

_Green- heals wounds when eaten_

_Blue- cools_

_Purple- revives one's energy, heath, and even life when eaten_

_Pink- sticky_

_Brown- barrier which lets things in but not out_

_White- barrier that lets things out but not in_

_Silver- can liquefy any object other than living things_

_Gold- can solidify any object other than living things_

_Black- can perform transport, summons, and reverse summons for the user_

_Gray- painless and instant unconsciousness_

_Clear- can sense very basic information, such as directions, how many people are near and their ability levels, a person's elements, weather changes, danger and safety, and where something could be_

"It looks like there are a bunch of dangerous crystals here." Banira noted.

Kuro nodded. "Each crystal has a different property and color."

"I get it." Banira pointed to a particular line. "What about this one?"

She was pointing at the 'gray crystal' which mentioned a painless knockout. Kuro shrugged. "Dunno. I'll try it."

He made the skill-specific handsign described beside it and pressed his right palm to the ground as if preforming a summoning. A moment later, a perfect circle of gray crystals about an inch high formed around Ichigo and he dropped to the ground.

Chokoreto nudged him with his foot. "Well, we know it's effective at least," he said.

Banira sighed again (honestly, the girl could be a professional sigher) and pulled a bottle of water from her bag. She dripped a little onto Ichigo's face, then dumped the bottle's remaining contents on him when he didn't react. He sat up sputtering.

_Note to self,_ Kuro thought to himself, _testing new crystals on students is bad_.

"So, sensei" Chokoreto began, "What do we know about Ketsueki-hime from the scroll?"

Kuro pulled a lollipop from his pocket. "Not much," he said, putting it in his mouth. "She's extremely skilled and it's difficult to sense her. She's probably about 20 years or older. Anyone who might've seen her is dead. One person claims to have seen her, but she got away before he could see anything to define her. Her victims don't appear to have any patterns we've noticed. She uses medical ninjutsu and strengthens her blades with it to kill. She always leaves one thing at the scene to link her to the crime: a symbol written in the victim's blood."

He drew it in the dirt with his finger. It appeared to be a diamond inside a circle inside a heart.

"Umm, what is it?" Ichigo frowned.

Kuro shrugged. "Dunno. Obviously she's trying to tell us something, but what that might be, I have no idea."

"Well, you're just being _extra_ helpful today, aren't you, sensei?" Banira sighed again. When Kuro looked at her, Ichigo quickly reached into Kuro's pocket which he kept pulling candy from. From the look on his face, it was empty.

"So, our mission is…" Chokoreto trailed off.

"Our mission is to find out who she is and track her. I hate to admit it, but you three aren't skilled enough to take her down yet." Kuro pulled another lollipop from his seemingly empty pocket, causing Ichigo to gape at him. "So once we track her down, we'll let Mitaiga know. By then, Team Silence should be back. They'll deal with her easily."

"Bunri and Bariana?" Ichigo asked.

At the same time, Banira asked, "The Kosuibuki twins?"

"That's them. If it gets to be too much for even them to handle, Koroshi might help as well." Kuro sighed. "It's a little scary to think that we might need the three assassains of the village to finish her off."

"Hey, I've always wondered. Why don't the three of them all form one team together?" Chokoreto asked.

"Well, first of all," Kuro began, "Bunri and Bariana work well as a team because of the bond they share. One of them puts up a barrier to trap the victim and the other finished them off. Second of all," Kuro paused. "You've all seen the twins in action, right?"

They nodded.

"Well, Koroshi is even more skilled. She's far above ANBU level. The twins would only get in her way," Kuro cocked his head to the side and laughed.

"Oh, and why don't we have ANBU?" Ichigo chimed in.

"Well, Mitaiga's predecessors felt that ANBU weren't necessary. When Mitaiga took over, she agreed with their sentiments, but thought the village needed at least some form of protection. That's why she chose the Kosuibuki twins and Koroshi. They'dd already been trained extremely well and were absolutely lethal at their work."

"Oh, I get it. Alisa and Liza were trained in a similar way, weren't they?" Banira chewed her lip thoughtfully. "Then where do Kouta and Leo come into play?"

Kuro coughed. "Well, Mitaiga doesn't really," he searched for the right word, "_like_ getting help. This is especially true from guys. Most guys can't stand working for her, since all she does is give them grunt work. She treats Leo well because of his adorable feminine appearance, despite his best efforts t look the opposite. And Kouta? Well, I think he mostly sticks around to look at Mitaiga. Everyone knows what a pervert he is, but so long as he does what he's told she doesn't bother him."

"So, to sum it up," Ichigo yawned. "She and her entire group consists of a strong-willed teenager, a deadly assassain who's awfully nice despite misconceptions, the super-skilled twin duo, an advisor-type woman who's never around unless she's criticizing or being pessimistic, a sweet teenager who helps with everything but is often useless, a girly-boy, and a pervert.

"That's quite an odd bunch if you ask me," Bariana noted. "I certainly wouldn't deal with a pervert if I was kage."

"Yeah, as if _you_ could or even _would_ be kage!" Ichigo laughed.

Banira snickered. "Right? I would die! I absolutely can't stand having so much to do!"

Chokoreto, trying to be encouraging, said, "Oh, I dunno about that. I bet you'd make a great kage."

"Aww, thanks." Banira grinned at him. "That's really sweet. I guess it _would_ be kinda cool."

"Suck up," Ichigo muttered. Kuro poked him in the eye again.

"Okay, guys. Back on topic: we should start by searching the last few places where the victims were found."

"Ow!" Ichigo whined. "Who were the last couple people to be killed?"

"According to _this_," Kuro said, flipping a page, "they were all ninjas. First was Kou, the boy who wanted revenge for his family. The one with those crazy-mysterious eyes that we never did find out the color of. Then came Leona, the top-of-her-class chunin with a talent for healing ninjutsu. And finally, the loner, GL."

"That guy never did like me," Ichigo sighed.

"He never joined a team," Kuro went on. "Something about hating annoying guys."

"And now we know _why_ he didn't like you," Chokoreto nodded thoughtfully.

Ichigo started. "Hey, shut up! I'm no annoying!" He looked at Kuro. "Sensei, am I annoying?"

"Yes," Kuro said matter-a-factly, once again poking him in the eye. "Now back to the matter at hand, I think we should check the sites for anything left behind other that her signature."

This turned out to be a marvelous idea. At the scene where Leona had been discovered, they got lucky.

"Sensei, over here!"

The boys crowded around Banira, who was holding a well-worn sheet of paper.

"It looks like a student roster from the academy," Chokoreto gasped.

_**FFN Academy Graduates**_

_**Name**____**(last first)**_

_**Age**____**(at graduation)**_

_**Gender**_

_**Current Age**_

_Akanose Leona_

_15_

_Female_

_21_

_Aribana Kouta_

_14_

_Male_

_20_

_Furukawa Liza_

_12_

_Female_

_18_

_GL_

_17_

_Male_

_23_

_Hiko Hanabira_

_15_

_Female_

_21_

_Ikoga Kou_

_13_

_Male_

_19_

_Isogai Mitaiga_

_13_

_Female_

_19_

_Kanja Tora_

_13_

_Male_

_19_

_**Kitsumi Koroshi**_

_**14**_

_**Female**_

_20_

_**Kosuibuki Bariana**_

_**16**_

_**Female**_

_22_

_**Kosuibuki Bunri**_

_**16**_

_**Female**_

_22_

_**14**_

_**Female**_

_**20**_

_**Okazaki Alisa**_

_**15**_

_**Female**_

_21_

_**Shinigami Kuro**_

_**9**_

_**Male**_

_15_

_**Tsukimana Leo**_

_**13**_

_**Male**_

_19_

_Umi Yuri_

_14_

_Female_

_20_

_Utau Yoake_

_15_

_Female_

_21_

_Wakari Fuko_

_16_

_Female_

_22_

"That's…that's _a lot_ of girls in one class," Chokoreto noted.

Kuro nodded. "There used to be this superstition in the village that women who fought made better wives. I never really understood why. Anyway, it drove girls to try harder than most of the guys." He laughed. "Consequently, every girl on that list remains single to this day."

"Hey!" Banira gasped. "Sensei, your name's on here!"

"Yeah, that was my class. I was the youngest, by far."

"And the name that's blacked out?"

"Hmm…it looks like Nanako is the only one not on the list. Nanako Imiki," Kuro shrugged. "She was sweet and polite, but so shy everyone ignored her."

"Do you think maybe she's the one doing this?" Ichigo asked. "Why else would her name be entirely erased from the list?" He was rewarded with Kuro's finger in his eye.

"Of course not! I can't see her doing something like that. She cried when she accidently killed a spider."

Banira, who had only half been paying attention, shrieked. "Spider!? Where!?"

"Plus," Kuro added over Banira's screams, "she disappeared six years ago after her parent and family were killed. It was only a little after graduation. Why would want to kill her old classmates?"

*Meanwhile, nearby*

"So, they're onto me, are they? Excellent. Though dropping the roster wasn't exactly part of the plan, it does make things a little more interesting, doesn't it?" The girl stroked little Shini's feather's affectionately. She'd never been able to summon large animals, but something so small as a hawk was easy enough to handle.

Shini, who was perfectly capable of human speech, crooned happily. "Yes_, master_," she said softly. "I think your revenge is going quite swimmingly."

"Isn't it? Now then, after I find my copy of the roster, we'll hunt down the next of the fools. I think Tsukimana Leo will be the next to go, hmm? It's a shame, really. He was such a _darling_ boy." The girl sighed. "Let's go, Shini. We have much work to do if the plan is to be complete in time."

"Yesss…_master,_" the little bird cackled to itself, hopping to the girl's shoulder. In an instant, the two disappeared into the night.

**A/N: Yay, minor cliffhanger! Don't worry, I have 3 even better cliffhangers planned for the next set.**

**Iggy: She'll never get any sleep.**

**Me: Hey, guess what I just noticed? Chokoreto and Ichigo…Chocolate and strawberry…**

**Iggy: So? What about it?**

**Me: Well, if someone * wink-wink, hint-hint* were to write a yaoi fanfic about them…I just keep picturing chocolate-covered strawberries.**

**Iggy: Oh, not the yaoi thing again…**

**Me: I'm just saying. Anyway, I promise I'll keep my yaoi talk to a very miminum and refrain from using it in the story. Unless you want me to. Let's see, if I can get enough people to review and say they **_**do**_** want it, I'll include it. Otherwise, I won't too much. Let's say…10 reviews either for or against? That way I can get a decent idea of who wants what…**

**Iggy: Your poor fanboys.**

**Me: Unless they're **_**yaoi**_** fanboys…I know for a fact I have at least one…Also, I apologize for being gone for so very long. I feel terrible. I will try to start posting regularly again. Maybe once or twice a month if I can manage! Epic stuff is coming, that's all I'll say.**

**P.S.: Reviews are loved, concrit is appreciated, and your flames are often hilarious. ~Love, Mo**


	10. Chapter 9: Predict my Morning

**A/N: Alright guys, here comes chapter whatever we're on now! All my files got mixed up so I'm not even sure anymore. I leave it a surprise until I upload it. Anyway, a quick note: there will be sets of three for arc or part. (I might have already said this.) Anyway, it should go Akatsuki, Konoha, Fanfiction. I will try my best to keep it in that order. If I plan on doing extra chapters for a certain bunch, I'll let you all know ahead of time. Also, I'll be adding in Rogue chapters every once in a while, and interlude-ing them occasionally in other chapters. (Yes, I'm aware that I probably used that word wrong. I just don't care.) Anyway, there's good writing weather today, and a good chance a tornado will hit sometime tonight. Fingers crossed that it does, and that I live. If all goes well, I should be able to type 3-4 chapters. I'm a psychopath, yes, but that's how I write. I like bad weather, what can I say? Haha here's the latest. Enjoy!**

*One week after trapping incident, Kaminari's POV*

"We're baaaaaack!" Pein half-sang. Kaminari groaned and opened her eyes. She'd already healed from her fall the previous week. However, it was early morning now, and she didn't quite appreciate being woken up.

"You're awfully chipper this morning. What do you want?" she whined, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She was really starting to wish he'd knock, and use the door properly.

Pein laughed. "Oh, nothing, nothing at all. I only thought you might be _interested_ in a part in the latest mission."

That got her attention. In the blink of an eye, she was out of bed and standing in front of her leader. "Why don't I _rephrase_ my greeting?" she said amicably. "Good _morning_, sensei. How did you sleep? Shall I make breakfast?"

Pein rolled his eyes. "Good morning, I _didn't_ sleep because I was on the way back from a mission, and no, you shall not because I already left Tobi in charge of breakfast."

Kaminari frowned. "Tobi?" she asked. "You left _Tobi_ in charge of breakfast? Don't you want to go make sure he hasn't started any fires?"

"No, no, see there's a chain-of-command for breakfast today. Tobi is in charge of breakfast. Deidara is in charge of Tobi."

"Really? In order to _prevent_ a fire that Tobi may or may not cause, you're going to let Deidara, a pyro, keep an eye on him?"

"Yes, and Sasori is in charge of Dei."

Kaminari snorted. "Oh good. Sasori will annoy him enough to make him set Tobi on fire."

"Look, chain of command here goes: Tobi, Deidara, Sasori, Hidan, Kakuzu, Kisame, Zetsu, Itachi, Konan, me."

"Mind if I ruin your chain?"

"Feel free to try."

"Okay, you're in here with me, so command falls to Konan. However, Konan is usually still asleep right now, so command falls to Itachi. Itachi is all but blind so he's pretty much useless, and technical command falls to Zetsu. Kisame irritates Black Zetsu, so he'll inevitably leave, and Kisame will soon follow because he doesn't deal with Kakuzu. This leaves blind Itachi to watch over the rest. With me so far?"

"Yeah, but that's still safe."

"Just wait. So Kakuzu will leave on a bounty hunt. Hidan will try to stab Osore before being dragged away by Kakuzu. All that's left is Itachi, Sasori, Deidara, and Tobi. Sasori will talk, Dei will try to kill him and hit Tobi instead. It is then that Itachi will try to stop the fight, but will be unable to pinpoint the exact location of any of the three. Sasori and Dei will continue to fight, their main point being 'art', and Tobi will be caught in the crossfire. Tobi will be knocked out, no one will watch the stove, it will catch fire, and then we're out of breakfast."

"What about Itachi?" Pein asked.

"What about him?"

"He's still trying to find them right?"

"I hypothesize that he'll give up and go elsewhere, whining about Sasuke." As she finished speaking, an explosion shook the building. She and Pein met eyes. "Told you so," she said, as they ran down the hallway to the kitchen.

The whole room had become a battle ground, filled with puppets and bombs. Poor Tobi was lying unconscious in front of the stove, with their breakfast on fire. Itachi was nowhere to be found.

"See?" Kaminari said, as Pein (unsuccessfully) attacked the flames with a cup of water. "Just a typical morning." She grabbed a bucket and finished putting out the fire.

Pein sighed and leaned against the counter. "So, what were we talking about before you decided to ruin my morning?"

"_I_ didn't ruin it," she protested. "And we were talking about sending me on a mission, remember?"

"Ah, that's right."

"So," she said, trying to sound nonchalant. "What's the mission for? Does it have anything to do with the Jinchuriki?"

"One of our spies left some information about the Jinchuriki at one of the drop points. We need you to retrieve it."

Kaminari frowned. "Do I get a team?"

Pein nodded. "Osore, Kanari, and Yuki will go with you. You and Yuki are co-squad leaders."

"Aww, no fair," she yawned. "Why can't I be squad leader by myself?"

"Because I said so," Pein said condescending. "Now, quit your whining and get going."

Kaminari muttered something highly offensive under her breath. Pein laughed and disappeared into thin air. She rolled her eyes and trudged back to her room to change out of her pajamas. She briefly wondered what it would be like to have a normal life. _Decidedly boring_, she thought to herself.

She brushed her hair, threw on her usual outfit, strapped on her sandals, and looked over her reflection in the mirror. _Flawless, _she thought, then laughed.

At that moment, Yuki, Kanari, and Osore walked in, Kanari healing a cut on Osore's arm that Hidan had probably caused early.

"Well, at least _some_ people know how to use a door," Kami muttered. Granted, they hadn't actually _knocked_ on the door, but it was a start.

"You ready to go?" Kanari asked.

"Just about. I need sharp things," she replied. She grabbed two handfuls of knives and started slipping them into various hidden slits, pockets, and pouches. When she was done, it looked as though she was totally unarmed; she looked like an innocent villager. She grabbed her Akatsuki coat (it used to be the trademark cloak, but she'd immediately altered it so it was shorter and more form-fitting, much to Pein's displeasure). "Ready."

As they walked to the entrance, Osore nudged her. "What's your total?"

"Fifteen kunai, nine shuriken, one shadow blade, and a case of needles," she replied. "You?"

"Nineteen kunai, twelve shuriken, two shadow blades, three cases of needles, and five chakra blades," Osore said triumphantly. Kaminari sighed, defeated again.

"I will _never_ understand how you get all of those hidden," Kanari said, shaking her head. "Or _where_ exactly you're hiding them."

Kaminari and Osore met eyes and laughed. "It's an art," they said simultaneously. Kanari laughed and stuck her tongue out at them. Yuki, as always, stayed emotionless and silent.

Two hours later, they were almost at the drop point. They were expecting a routine information pick-up, but when they reached the clearing, they got much more than they'd bargained for: they weren't alone.

**A/N: Yeah, it's short, no complaining. I'm doing a triple upload so they should equal one normal upload when I'm done. Also, a little shout out to ShinigamiinPeru. Without her, I probably wouldn't have gotten the motivation to start typing again. So, thanks:) May you be gifted with much good fortune and rainbows and happiness and stuff! Jk, but I do thank you:) I should be posting much more pretty soon, depending on how fast I type. I already have the next 21 chapters planned out. That's 7 whole sets! Thanks so much for all the views, guys. And the favorites and follows and whatnot! I'm almost at 300 views! It means so much to me, I really love you guys:)**


	11. Chapter 10: New Mission

**A/N: Hi again. This should be the second chapter of the teaser set if anyone is bothering to keep up. I'm putting up three at once, since they're so short. I didn't want any b*tching about short chapters, and you guys deserve it anyway. If anyone has questions about the characters or the story, please ask me. I'll do my best to answer them:) Here's the second teaser. Enjoy.**

"Aoba-sensei?" Atisuto murmured lazily.

Aoba yawned. "Yeah? What is it?"

Team 12 was lying in the grass after training, watching the clouds. They'd finished early and no had felt like going home. Aoba's sister was staying at his house, Momo's house was empty, Keiko had to come back to meet Kitsune anyway, and Atisuto was just lazy.

"When are we going to get a real mission?" Atisuto sighed.

"What are you talking about?" Aoba asked. "You've gone on lots of missions. Remember last week, when you captured that missing cat?"

"Yeah, _that_ was fun, Keiko muttered sarcastically, remembering all the scratches they'd gotten. It had seemed as though the cat had escaped before.

Momo rolled onto his stomach. "No, I think he meant a mission of C-rank or higher. To be honest, I agree with him. We've had way too much training; it's time we put it to the test."

After a moment of thought, Aoba sat up slowly. "Are you _sure_ you want to try a C-rank? You're sure you're ready?"

They looked at each other and then nodded decidedly.

Aoba ran his hands through his hair. "Well then, you're in luck. Today, Sarutobi-sama has given us a C-rank Elite mission."

Their eyes widened and they all began talking at once.

"Seriously!?" Keiko gasped.

"You weren't going to tell us!?" Atisuto cried.

Momo seemed less at a loss for words. "What exactly are the details of the mission?" As usual, he was the only one worried about important things.

Aoba answered them all in one breath. "Yes. I would've eventually. We received a tip-off from a reliable source that some young members of Akatsuki, along with a small group of rogue ninja, are in the area. They're supposedly not very strong, so the mission wasn't a given a high level of risk." He jumped to his feet. "We're supposed to apprehend them, if possible. Are you guys in?"

Atisuto stood, looked Aoba in the eyes, and smirked. "You've _got_ to be kidding." Momo and Keiko grinned at each other and took their places on either side of him. "We've been your team for like, two weeks now an you _still_ don't know the answer already?"

"Can I take that as a yes?" Aoba raised his eyebrows questioningly and put his fist out. His three students followed suit, stacking their fists on top of his. "Alright then, let's get supplies and head out."

*A few hours later*

"Trust me, it's not much further," Aoba said after Atisuto complained about his feet for the fourth time. "In fact, we're here. We're probably early, though. I doubt our targets have made it this far; they'd have to be much stronger than we were told if that was the case."

Atisuto let out a whoop and back-flipped from the tree down into the clearing.

"Show off," Keiko murmured. She noticed that Atisuto had gone uncharacteristically quiet. Worried, she, Momo, and Aoba joined him on the ground. However, when they landed below, they understood his silence perfectly. They weren't alone.

*Ani's POV*

Three ninja, all exhausted, trudged along through the woods. Actually, only two of them trudged. The youngest was slumped over their leader's back. Why, you might ask? Because a three day walk is pretty tiring for an 8 year old.

"Oi. Ani," the older girl called. "When the hell can we take a break? My feet hurt like something I can't even begin to describe, and Ankoku is almost asleep."

"Shut it, Meiwaku. We'll stop when I say we'll stop," the older boy, their leader, replied cooly.

"I _told _you," the girl growled, "_never_ to call me that."

The boy rolled his eyes. "I'll call you whatever I feel like. Maybe you'll get the hint and leave."

_Ani. Age 18. Ex-hidden leaf shinobi._

_Kurayami. Nicknamed Ankoku. Age 8. Orphan, previous village unknown._

_Akumanome. Nicknamed Meiwaku. Age 17. Orphan, ex-hidden sand shinobi._

"Highly unlikely," Meiwaku scoffed. "So, when exactly _will_ that you say we can stop? We _have _been walking for three days now."

Ani sighed. "Fine, if it'll shut you up, we'll take a break," he began.

"Again, highly unlikely," he heard her mutter.

He went on talking. "There's a clearing about an hour up ahead, if I'm not mistaken. We can rest there for a day, alright?" He was still looking back at her when his foot caught a tree root and he fell flat on his face. Meiwaku laughed.

"Ani-chan?" Ankoku mumbled sleepily. "What happened?" She yawned and rolled over onto the ground.

"Don't worry, it's nothing," Ani reassured her. He helped the little girl up and brushed her off.

Meiwaku stooped down to her level. "Do you think you can walk for an hour, sweetie? Ani _says_ he knows a place up ahead where we can rest for a day."

"Yeah," Ankoku yawned again. "I can walk." She slid one hand into each of theirs and smiled up at them. "Come on, the faster we get there, the sooner we can sleep."

Ani laughed and allowed himself to be pulled along. _One would never guess_, he thought, _the horrors her little eyes have seen._

*One hour later*

Ankoku had only lasted five minutes before she fell asleep walking. Meiwaku had scooped her up wordlessly and continued walking. Now they were almost at the clearing Ani mentioned.

"Big sis?" Ankoku mumbled in Meiwaku's ear. "How much farther?"

Meiwaku looked at Ani expectantly. Ani sighed. "Not much farther. It's just ahead, I promise."

Ani was the first to break from the edge of the trees, but as he came into the field, he stopped short.

"What is it?" Meiwaku asked curiously. No reply.

She joined him in the sunlight and immediately saw the problem. On one side of the field stood four hidden leaf shinobi. And on the other side were four young shinobi dressed in Akatsuki cloaks.

After a moment, Meiwaku broke the silence with what Ani was pretty sure summed up the whole situation. "Well, shit."

**A/N: I think I'm on a cliff hanger high. No worries, I've still got one more up my sleeve. You guys should love me. I'm in Trigonometry class and I really should be paying attention to the lesson, but instead I'm writing. I love you guys too much! –eyeroll–**


	12. Chapter 11: Captured

**A/N: Hey everyone! Last teaser of the set! I'm still needing characters for FFN village. Only 2 people have submitted characters. Since both are so wonderfully awesome, one of them especially so (wink-wink) I want to dedicate this chapter to them, as well as anyone else who has reviewed or messaged me about the story. Thanks. Almost 300… I'm so happy!**

*Kuro's POV*

It had been a week since Kuro's team had found the student roster. Since they'd found a good lead. Since he'd found out his old classmate might be behind the murders.

He exhaled. _The only thing we're missing now is her next target_, he thought. He laid back to look up at the sky. It was a cloudy day, and he could practically feel the imminence of a storm in the air. From his place on the roof of Mitaiga's chamber, he could see all of Fanfiction village. Children playing in the streets. A young girl hanging laundry. An older brunette boy beating up a boy with strawberry-red hair, while a snowy-haired girl looked on.

_Wait a sec_. Sure enough, upon closer inspection, it was clearly Chokoreto, Ichigo, and Banira. _I swear, those two couldn't work together if their lives depended on it_. He groaned. _Time to break up yet another fight_.

He pulled a fistful of paper bombs from his pouch and began tying them one by one to a single kunai. There were twelve bombs in all. Lastly, he tied a bell to give them a slight warning. He flung the kunai in their direction and it landed at Banira's feet, about a meter and a half away from the boys. She looked at it as the papers began to burn, looked at Kuro, rolled her eyes, and flipped to the safety of the roof of the nearest building.

She winked at Kuro and held up three fingers. Then two. She snapped her fingers and the kunai exploded. The boys went flying into a wall. Kuro jumped down and came to stand over them.

"I have a plan," he said slowly.

"Does it involve putting our lives in mortal peril?" Ichigo asked sarcastically.

"_Actually_," Kuro pretended to think about it, "now that you mention it, no, I don't think our lives will be in danger. Maybe."

"Fine," Ichigo grumbled. "What do we need?"

"First of all," —a smile played on Kuro's lips— "we'll need the girly-boy who works for Mitaiga."

Three hours later, they'd managed to convince Leo to be their bait; he wasn't happy about it. Night had fallen and Leo wandered around the street alone in the rain. Team Ice Cream was camouflaged in a nearby cart. Sadly, the cart was very small. Ichigo was pressed against Chokoreto's back as both laid along one side of the cart. Next to Chokoreto was Banira, and then came Kuro. Banira wasn't all too convinced Ichigo wasn't enjoying himself.

Something moved in the shadows and Banira's red irises flashed. She felt the boys tense for a fight. She grabbed Chokoreto's hand to steady herself and he smiled inwardly.

A small, cloaked figure ran from the shadows. Kuro moved to jump out of the cart, but Banira held him back. The proportions were all wrong.

"Big brother!" The little voice was young and feminine.

Leo gasped in recognition. "Asami! What are you _doing_ here!?"

"I was worried about you," the little eight year old said sadly. "You didn't come home."

Kuro sighed. "This complicates things."

From behind them, a voice whispered, "It does indeed, Kuro Shinigami." They turned in time to see the glint of a knife, then the figure made a hand seal.

"It's over," the voice said, just before Kuro and his comrades fell unconscious.

**A/N: Oh my gosh, **_**so**_** much typing! But all worth it. I can't wait to hear what you all have to say. It might be about a month before I have the next chapter posted. We'll see. Love you all. I'm getting off for the night. Sweet dreams, g'night.**


	13. Chapter 12: No Longer Brothers

**A/N: Hey guys! Super sorry I was gone for so long. It's been almost a year I think. I have this chapter and the next typed from back then, and I'll begin typing more tomorrow. Hopefully my writing will have improved over the year. Anyway, we're back to the Akatsuki now. Recap: they just entered the clearing where their drop point is located and found a rogue group of ninja and a team from Konoha. Should I start doing short recaps at the beginning of chapters? Would that make it a little easier to follow? Let me know:)**

*Kaminari's POV*

Kaminari glared at the Leaf village ninja and the trio. She heard Yuki gasp and she looked at him strangely. Yuki never showed emotion, so what had him so worked up?

"Brother?" he whispered. She followed his gaze and saw he was looking at one of the rogue ninja.

_Brother_? Kaminari didn't know much about Yuki, but he didn't seem the brotherly type. "Okay, Yuki, that's not at all what I expected, but it's not our biggest problem right now. Why don't we focus on the enemy, hmm?"

Yuki looked as though he'd barely heard her. "I have to speak with him."

Kaminari gaped. "You _what_!?"

"I have to speak with my brother," Yuki repeated.

"You're insane. We've got the leaf village not twenty-five feet away, and you want to _talk_? Not only that, but to another of their _enemies_!?"

"That's suicide," Kanari whispered. "Like hell they'd let you; 'the enemy of your enemy is your friend,' and all that."

Osore grinned. "Hell, we can take these bastards without him," she laughed maniacally. "If he wants to talk to the bitch, I say let him."

Kanari smacked her on the head. "You should really watch your language, little miss 10-year-old."

"Yeah, right." Osore rolled her eyes. "I bet I know more swears than you do."

Kaminari huffed and closed her eyes to think. "Okay, we _should_ be able to hold them off long enough for you to get a quick conversation in. But you've got like, five minutes at best." Yuki looked at her gratefully.

"What about the Jinchuriki information?" Kanari asked suddenly. "You think it was a set up?"

Kaminari nodded. "It seems most likely."

Osore shrugged. "It happens, right? We need to focus on holding them off for the moment." She turned to Yuki. "Are you ready?"

He nodded. "Let's do it."

"Go!" Kaminari whispered.

As soon as Yuki darted across the field, the leaf ninja were on them. The girls blocked Yuki and his brother's companions and waited for the assault.

*Ani's POV*

_The hell?_ Ani thought. _Why's Yuki here? He should be back in the village with Mum. _He set down Ankoku gently. Meiwaku pushed her behind her back. Yuki's comrades blocked the four of them. They'd be safe…for now.

"Brother!" Yuki gasped. He pulled Ani into a warm embrace and, without thinking, Ani hugged him back.

"What are you doing here?" Ani asked. "I left you in the Leaf village with Mum."

"Exactly," Yuki said. "You _left_."

"And mum?"

Yuki looked away. "She got really sick one day, and just…couldn't get better." He tried not to think about his mother much. It brought back emotions he'd rather not feel. "After she died, I left the village. The Akatsuki found me and took me in; I was raised by their leader. What about you? What's your story?"

Ani sighed and looked back at Meiwaku. She nodded and he began. "Do you know what happened to dad?" Yuki shook his head. "Our father was _murdered_. The _Akatsuki_ killed him." He shot Yuki a look of pure hatred. "And now you're one of them," he spat, turning away from his brother.

"That changes nothing."

Ani looked back sharply. "What?"

"I'd only just been born when Father died. Mum never spoke to us afterwards; we looked too much like him. But I had you to take care of me. You were more than a brother to me; you _raised_ me." He looked into Ani's eyes. "And then you left, the day after I turned six. I woke up that day and you were just gone. Mum didn't say anything, didn't cry. She still ignored me, even more if that's possible. I was completely alone." Ani opened his mouth to speak, but Yuki continued on. "You left me alone. I thought you _hated_ me. I convinced myself that if I could become stronger – if I could make you love me again – you'd come back. I entered the Academy and was put in Elite classes, and I tried my hardest every day. Two years later and I'd graduated. Another two and I was a chunin. But by that time, I'd realized you weren't coming back. So I left. There was nothing left for me in the village."

They were both silent for a long moment. Finally, Ani spoke.

"I left to get _revenge_, Yuki._ I_ was five years old when he died," Ani said. "_I_ was old enough to love him. When he died, a huge part of me went with him. I'd hoped you would go on living in the village, live a good life, and forget about me. I'd hoped one day, once I'd achieved my vengeance, I'd come back and live with you again. But instead you fell to bitterness and _joined_ the people who killed my father."

"_Forget _aboutyou!?" Yuki exclaimed. "_They're _my family now. You walked out of my life 8 years ago. You're not my brother anymore."

Ani looked pained. He watched his younger brother steadily. "Then we have an understanding. Regardless of whether or not you're one of them, I _will_ bring Akatsuki to its knees. If that means taking you down with it, so be it. Like you said, I walked out of your life. I have a new family now, little brother." He watched Yuki flinch and felt a pang of guilt.

Yuki's face cleared. "You can't stop us!" he shouted. "We'll kill you and your little _family_ without a second thought! I've _killed _people, brother! What about you?"

Ani fought to keep his face neutral. "I never wanted this life for you," he whispered.

Behind them, they heard a scream. One of Yuki's comrades, a girl with sunset-orange hair, fell to the ground, a diagonal slash running from her hip to her shoulder. She was bleeding badly.

"Kanari!" Yuki gasped, forgetting all about his brother and the surrounding fight. He moved to run to her but Ani caught his arm.

"Take her and get out of here," he said. "We're leaving as well. Next time we face each other, it will be as enemies." He tossed a handful of smoke bombs at the Konoha shinobi, each filled with dangerously high levels of anesthetics and sleeping drugs. Before they'd even touched the ground, Ani, Meiwaku, and Ankoku were gone.

_Meiwaku's POV_

Meiwaku followed Ani through the trees, carrying Ankoku on her back. The silence was unbearable but she knew now wasn't the time to talk. Ani needed to be alone with his thoughts; he'd talk when he was ready.

"Big sis?" Ankoku asked softly, after a few seemingly endless minutes of silence. "Will Ani-chan leave us too?"

Up ahead, Meiwaku saw Ani fists clench; he'd heard. "No, of course he won't," she assured the little girl, but even she couldn't hide the hint of doubt in her voice.

After a another moment, Ankoku whispered, "Will _you_ leave us, big sis?"

Meiwaku ducked her head. "No, I won't."

Ankoku was silent after that, but Meiwaku couldn't help but feel guilty. After all, there was still a very good chance that she would _have _to leave them very soon. And if she didn't leave by herself, Ani would _make_ her leave once her past was revealed. It was only a matter of time.

**A/N: Seriously, I liked this chapter. Let me know how I did this time, guys. I think it's way better than usual, but I may be wrong. I need opinions, children! We should be back to weekly updates (but I'll post the next chapter tomorrow). Let's say…they'll be a new chapter up every Sunday? Shouldn't be too hard to manage. Alright, as always, I love you guys and I'll see you tomorrow.**


	14. Chapter 13: Not Skilled Enough

**A/N: Alright, new chapter, yay! Also, I need characters still! I've gotten 2 teams worth, from 2 different people. Thanks so much! I love your input, even if they're just super minor characters. Shinigami sent me one of hers and he became one of my main and favorite characters. Sco sent me 3 others, who became my favorite genin team. I love them both to death. So send me your characters and I promise to cherish them and give them lots of love every day! :)**

_Keiko's POV_

Keiko watched as the boy from Akatsuki ran to join the trio of rogues. She saw him hug the other boy. Meanwhile, the other 3 Akatsuki covered them, facing off against Konoha.

Keiko felt a little bad. Three against four was definitely not a fair fight. A moment later, she no longer felt guilty. The smallest girl flung her arm out and Keiko felt a blade brush her cheek, leaving a thin trail of blood as it bit through her skin. Behind her, the blade sunk hilt-deep into the trunk of a tree.

She instantly regretted leaving her beetle bag at home. Now would have been the perfect time to use them. (She'd opted out of letting the beetles live inside of her as her brothers and the rest of the family did. She said it was "ew". However, the bond still existed between them, since she fed them small amounts of her chakra like usual.)

"Keiko, you and Atisuto take the red-haired girl," Aoba ordered. "Momo, get the orange-haired one. I've got the little white-haired one on the end." He didn't have to look at his students to know they understood the urgency here.

"'_The_ _little_ _one'_? That's hardly fair," the 'little one' frowned. "Shouldn't you leave the smallest opponent to the weaker students? Why don't you fight Kanari, here?" She said, indicating the tall girl immediately to her right. She smiled, but her eyes didn't reflect the amusement.

"Don't play with me," Aoba spat. "I can sense chakra, kid. Yours is by far the strongest and most dangerous here."

"My _name_ is Osore. Do _not_ call me 'kid.'" Blue streaks began pouring through the girl's white locks, until her hair was entirely icy blue.

The tall girl, Momo's opponent, snickered. "Oooh, now you've done it," she said.

"You've made a e 'd.

it,"snickered. "irelyt ous herethey understood the urgency hilt-deep into the trunk of a treey favorite genin thuge mistake, mister," Osore laughed. It was a cold, high laugh that sent chills down Keiko's spine. "You see, I can see chakra too, and mine is almost twice the level of yours. You're no match for me. Then again," she mused, "I suppose _you're_ the best you've got, since your little brats are maybe _just_ strong enough to take _you_ down. And that's _if_ they worked together." She winked at Atisuto and stuck her tongue out at him.

"Why, you—" Atisuto began, but Aoba shushed him.

"Sensei," Keiko said, looking worriedly at Aoba. "I thought you said they'd be weak. This was supposed to be a low C-rank mission, right?"

"It was _supposed_ to be. Though now it seems like it was all a set-up."

Atisuto shrugged. "Whatever. As long as I get to fight!" He ran forward toward the scarlet-haired girl. She smirked and waited for him. The other two, Osore and Kanari, ran forward.

"Damn it!" Aoba swore. "Keiko, go help him! Try to keep him from maiming himself, okay? Momo, get the other one!" Aoba dove for Osore but she dodged.

Keiko wished for the millionth time she could use genjutsu properly. She'd have to rely entirely on her taijutsu for this fight, and count on Atisuto for backup.

"Keiko, keep her busy!" Atisuto ordered.

"Easier said than done!" She yelled back. She managed to trip the girl with a decent kick, but she merely flipped and turned to face her again.

"So," the girl asked as they circled each other. "What's your name?"

"Keiko," Keiko answered. "And yours?"

"Kaminari."

"It's so _nice_ to meet you," Keiko said sarcastically.

Kaminari laughed. "Back at ya."

"Keiko, duck!" Atisuto shouted. Keiko dove out of the way, knowing all too well Atisuto's destructive abilities.

Kaminari, on the other hand, turned just a second too late. The volley of knives, stars, and needles Atisuto had drawn hit her head-on, embedding themselves deep in her flesh. Blood trailed down her body as she fell backwards into the dirt.

Keiko looked down at her. "Sorry," she said. "But I have a feeling we wouldn't have become friends." She turned to Atisuto, high-fiving him. "We did it!" she cried. Atisuto released the jutsu and the blood-covered weapons disappeared, leaving deep wounds over Kaminari's entire body. They were about to turn to help their teammates when she spoke.

"Very good, you two."

They spun around, startled. Kaminari slowly got to her feet, blood dripping onto the ground. Her head had sustained a pretty nasty cut, and blood poured slowly down one side of her face.

Keiko gasped as the blood flow halted before her eyes. In fact, the cut seemed to be sewing itself shut. All over the girl's body, wounds were closing, scarring over. Even the scars faded, leaving behind flawless skin. She appeared to have never been injured at all, and the blood that now covered her seemed almost as if it wasn't hers.

_Impossible,_ Keiko thought.

"That hurt like hell," Kaminari complained, stretching. "But it's my turn now.

_Momo's POV_

He had her. The girl, Kanari, was currently trapped in one of his most skillful genjutsus, one in which the victim's greatest fears are twisted and used against them. She'd put up a decent fight, but now it was over. He eyes were glazed over and wide with terror, her mouth frozen in a silent scream.

"Sorry about this," Momo murmured. "I'll make it quick." He pulled a kunai from his pouch and drove in in between her shoulder blades.

As the genjutsu was shattered, Kanari screamed. It was cut off abrubtly as she choked on a mouthful of blood. She fell to the ground, bleeding profusely, her muscles twitching.

Her comrades were momentarily distracted. Momo saw one the rogues throw something. They looked like smoke bombs, but Momo knew they were probably much more dangerous.

"Hold your breath!" he yelled to his teammates. When the smoke dissipated, Akatsuki and the rogues were gone.

"Dammit!" Atistuo cried. "We _had_ them!"

It was at that moment that Keiko punched him. "You almost got us _killed_, charging in like that! Just face it, they were too strong for us!" Atisuto glared at the ground in silence.

"We should go back and tell the Hokage about this immediately," Aoba called. Though bleeding and holding his shoulder, he'd be able to make it back without help. His team nodded and followed him back in the direction of the village, moving slowly with exhaustion.

Momo began to realize it was harder and harder to pay attention to his surroundings. He felt lightheaded and his eyes fluttered as he fought to stay conscious. A moment later, his body gave out and he fell headfirst toward the ground below.

Just before her blacked out, he heard Keiko scream his name. Then, everything was dark.

_Keiko's POV_

Keiko watched in horror as Momo fell. She jumped from branch to branch, knowing she'd be late. At the last possible second, a bird swooped over and snatched him out of the air. Atisuto's sketch deposited the boy on a wide tree branch and disappeared.

Keiko was first to reach Momo. She instinctively put her hand to his forehead. He was ice cold, and very pale. She pulled up his jacket; his shirt was soaked with blood. There was a sort of clear liquid mixed in with the red.

"But—how?" Keiko asked. "His clothes aren't even damaged. Why would he keep quiet?"

Aoba and Atisuto joined her. "The girl used medical ninjutsu. She cut his body but left his clothes alone," Aoba said.

Atisuto touched the clear liquid, bringing his fingers to his nose. "Anesthetic. And a strong one at that. I doubt he even knew he'd been cut."

Keiko stripped off her jacket and tore it into long strips. She managed to bandage him up, but it was only a temporary solution. She and Atisuto helped lift him onto Aoba's back, apologizing when they jarred his shoulder. Wordlesssly, they headed back to the village, their pace increased.

**A/N: But Momo was already dead when they reached the hospital. No, probably not. Maybe eventually, but not yet. That's right, I sit around all day thinking about which of my characters to kill off. Poor dears. Now, back to FFN village, hmm? I haven't killed anyone there in awhile. Let's see how it goes! Check back on March 16 for the update. (I live in the central timezone, by the way. I'll post around noon here.)**


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